SUPER GIG | Superheist & friends @ The Bald Faced Stag 30/6/17
SUPERHEIST
+ Frankenbok + Dreadnaught + Rival Fire
The Bald Faced Stag
30th June 2017
Superheist reformed last year after over a decade in the wilderness, sparking huge nostalgic interest for one of the biggest nu metal bands to come out of Australia. But a year later, once the nostalgia has worn off, can they still hold interest?
The ‘Raise Hell’ tour comes after their blistering AAA side single release, consolidating the latest phase in Superheist history, which is most notably strengthened by the addition of enigmatic frontman Ezekiel Ox.
Rival Fire opened up for ‘the heist’ at The Bald Faced Stag in Sydney’s inner west, continuing to build momentum ahead of their debut album release in August. On the back of supporting Dead Letter Circus and Birds of Tokyo, they seem destined for bigger things with their uplifting alt-rock sound.
Dreadnaught were an appropriate addition to the bill given their previous ties to Superheist and willingness to join them in ‘raising hell’ through metal, which they did with vigour.
Frankenbok walked out to the 20th Century Fox theme music - an apt intro given they produced about the same amount of distortion as a Fox News report. The crowd may have been dressed in black, but Frankenbok lightened the room with an amusing cover of Madison Avenue’s ‘Don’t Call Me Baby’, joined by singer London.
Superheist took the stage to the tune of 'House of Pain' and quickly had the crowd jumping around as they opened with comeback single ‘Hands Up High’.
The set was filled predominantly with songs post resurrection from ‘Ghosts Of The Social Dead’ and latest singles but did trawl through the back catalogue with numbers from ‘The Prize Recruit’ and earlier EPs. Notably absent was a showing from the Joey Biro fronted ‘Identical Remote Controlled Reactions’, perhaps a nod to the fractured relationship shared.
Despite being the band’s third singer, Ox has taken ownership of the band like an adoptive parent. Not that the band are in their infancy, having had two top 20 ARIA charting albums and major tours such as playing main stage at the Big Day Out and even a support slot for Eminem. However, Ox’s astonishing voice, energy and lyrical prowess takes the heist to yet another level.
As revered and influential as the previous frontmen were, Ezekiel Ox replacing Joey Biro is kind of like Christian Bale replacing George Clooney as Batman.
Nowhere were these skills more prominent than during 'The Deepend’, belting out the powerful chorus over a signature DW Norton down-tuned head-banging guitar riff.
The band announced they were filming a documentary on the night, sparking the chant "Su-per-heist! Su-per-heist!" by punters in attempt to get on camera.
In typical Ox fashion he spent more time in the moshpit than on stage, leading the way with jumping, clapping, moshing and general hell-raising. At one point even busting out an impromptu freestyle rap.
He took a swipe at those who missed out on the show and the growing trend of punters choosing Netflix over live music, thanking those that bucked the trend. The crowd were in turn thankful that the band showed up themselves, after an incident at the Brisbane show threatened to derail the tour, in which drummer John Sankey left the stage mid show, after being struck in the face by a bottle.
Ox stepped aside whilst the remaining members took things back to their grindcore roots, drawing from their 'Apocalypse EP', which as they pointed out was originally released on cassette. Bass player Si Durrant took over lead vocal duties for this portion of the set.
Ox returned to the stage for a scorching finale including the fan favourite ‘Pulse’ and the tour’s title track ‘Raise Hell’, leaving the crowd in a state of adrenalin and exhaustion, leaving nothing in the tank.
So put your cap on back to front, grab your wallet-chain and attach it to your three-quarter pants because Superheist are making nu metal great again and they don’t look like being impeached any time soon.
We can’t wait to see how the documentary turns out, just don’t expect it on Netflix!
AAA side single ‘Raise Hell / Got The Bounce / Fully Loaded’ is available for sale on all digital formats.
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