Live Review: Dead Letter Circus - Metropolis

Within minutes of the doors opening, local act The Arsonist stepped to the stage. Surprising those not used to eclectic band line-ups at rock shows, the band consisted of three falsetto singers stationed behind two keyboards and a laptop, with the drummer holding down the bottom end under what was a consistent reign of soft ballads and disco-influenced beats.

While playing proficiently, they did little to grab the attention of many. In sharp contrast, Twelve Foot Ninja, kitted out in black, had their guitars set to a sharp distortion crunch and unleashed a high dB burst that was a palette cleanser. With a sound calling from that weird space on the Venn diagram where grunge overlapped in time with nu-metal, they provided the first stirrings of energy to the audience.

Fair To Midland, direct from the U.S.A., brought with them an amazing intensity that hit the limitations of Metro Freo's sound system like a high-speed collision with a brick wall. Vocals turned to sludge in a way that was not part of the design and became at times outright painful. While delivering a heavy chunk of solid bass, the sound problems along with pre-recorded intermission tracks that took the place of any banter made them a wall of formidable but impenetrable noise.

Then, after the briefest of intermissions, the crowd greeted the appearance of Dead Letter Circus with a surge toward the stage. Exceptional drumming and a solid bass were a constant throughout the night, and held the ground under a vocal delivery that hit all the high notes. DLC have clearly become comfortable with themselves over the years, no longer instructing the audience to mosh to certain songs, but letting them rip hard of their own accord to the energy provided. The debut of new song Wake Up was compromised as it got lost in the fuzz of an overwhelmed P.A. system. But no matter, songs like Disconnect And Apply and Space On The Wall sat well together and garnered considerable backing vocals from an audience that could have gone all night, solidifying with the cause an already dedicated fanbase.