Kel & I went off to see
Cog play last night at HQ. They were supported by Dead Letter Circus, a Brisbane band, who were pretty good but were hampered from sounding better by a pretty shitty mix. The vocals were hard to hear which was a shame as I was looking forward to seeing what they were like. They were also pretty limited in stage movement due to
Cog's drum kit being already set up. Nonetheless there was a lot of energy in their set.
Last time
Cog came to Adelaide, they played the same venue, just over a year ago. For some unknown reason, we were bypassed on their short "Boomerang" tour earlier this year which pissed me off. But it was well worth the wait. Flynn, Luke & Lucius put on another awesome show. The sound these guys can churn out is impressive in its power and cohesion. And the lighting show put on really built the atmosphere - one thing HQ should be commended for.
If only the same could be said for a) HQ's drinks prices (seriously, $4 for a 300ml bottle of water?) and b) the arrogance of the security staff. One tough guy pushed his way through the crowd at the back bar, glaring at anyone who dared not to see him coming and still be in his way when he barged through. Toolbags like that bug the hell out of me. We're all paying customers who are here to see the bands, not some big knobhead in a dodgy green shirt who thinks he's better than Jesus at parting things.
But all this couldn't dampen my enjoyment of the show (though the drunk dude behind me shouting every five seconds had a good crack at it). I'm unashamedly a big man-fan of
Cog, and couldn't fault the gig, other than Luke's bass rig dying for a few minutes. But credit to the other two - rather than leave the crowd to get restless while they sorted it out, Flynn & Lucius put on an impromptu jam which, for all we know, was possibly how they wrote the melodies on the upcoming album. Well done guys, you should add that tune to the album - I liked it a lot!
One downside to the night was the news that we have to wait till March or April for the new CD. I have this slight issue with bands who release singles so far in advance of the long player coming out. It's more of a quirk of my nature really, because at the end of the day, who the fuck cares what I think?! I guess I'd prefer they built the momentum of the pending release closer to release date. I worry that they're building the hype with the new single,
What If, nearly six months before the album lands - the hype might've well and truly worn off by the time
Sharing Space drops. But we'll see. Who knows, we might get another single off it before launch day. Fingers crossed. Then again, on the up side they'll probably kick off another tour when the CD goes live, which I'll
never say no to. ;)
So in summing up my lame-arse review of the show,
Cog rock my socks. They are still my current hero-band, and this gig will tide me over till the next time they grace our shores.
Some of my dodgy-arse camera phone photos:
