It’s a big week here in Sydney. Every night there seem to be dozens of bands playing sideshows from their Falls, Field Day, Southbound, Peats and Woodford appearances – and there simply aren’t enough people in this city to fill every venue with a $50 ticket. Unfortunately this meant that the crowds were not out in force for Blood Red Shoes, but the fans who were there were treated to a phenomenal show – and fans they were, singing along to just about every word of every song.
Having missed the first band Black Zeros, Step-Panther were well into their set by the time I arrived. The three piece rarely disappoint and from the tail end of the set I caught, it seemed like tonight was no exception – though they didn’t have much of a room to deal with regrettably. Things did pick up a bit by the time Brighton based duo Blood Red Shoes hit the stage, and the band seemed genuinely surprised that anyone had come out at all, let alone were in front of a room of huge fans.
They kicked things off with their 2007 single “It’s Getting Boring By The Sea”, which came to further prominence a couple of years later thanks to appearances on the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack, as well as appearing in an episode of the brilliant UK series Misfits. “Heartsink” off of Fire Like This followed, and then “Say Something, Say Anything” off of Box of Secrets, their 2008 debut. The brilliant “Cold” off of their latest album In Time To Voices, followed, coming surprisingly early in the set
The rest of the set jumped around much the same – between songs new and old. It should come as little surprise given this was their first time in our country, but it was refreshing nonetheless to hear such a wonderful cross-section of their back catalogue. The high energy band, who produced a fantastic live sound (never an easy feat for a two piece) and a set that was consistently fantastic from start to finish. Though it’s hard to pick a highlight, “This is Not For You” sticks out to me, as does the grungy goodness of “Light It Up” and the catchy “Colours Fade” which closed out the main set.
For those who are familiar with the band, you already know how great this band is, but if I had to describe them to a non-convert, I’d probably point to the sound of someone like Emily Haines (Metric), and suggest this is what it would sound like if Emily was fronting …Trail of Dead in their Madonna era. In other words, much heavier than anything Metric do, but melodic and entrancing all the same, which was what made that ToD record so brilliant. It almost feels criminal though to waste my breath on comparisons – this is a band who have been on the touring circuit now for some eight years, that they should be a band that others are compared to. They’re that tight, that entertaining, that confident and their music is just that good.
With the tour being the first visit to Australia, who knows where the future will lead locally for the duo. It’s taken the eight years to get to sell out status in and around Europe, but certainly it won’t take that long for them to reach the same sort of success here. All the same, let’s hope they make the trip a few more times and capitalize on it all down here – they are after all a phenomenal live band and next time let’s hope they don’t have M.I.A and company to compete with…
Setlist:
It’s Getting Boring By The Sea
Heartsink
Say Something, Say Anything
Cold
Don’t Ask
Lost Kids
This is Not For You
Light It Up
It’s Happening Again
In Time To Voices
Keeping It Close
You Bring Me Down
Colours Fade
Encore: I Wish I Was Someone Better
