Show Review : Daniel Striped Tiger, Circuits, To The North, No Anchor (The Step Inn 7/5/2009)

Nothing gets me excited more than a show with a good line-up. Daniel Striped Tiger were playing 2 shows in Brisbane and i couldn't be more happier with the supporting bands since i considered them to be some of the best bands Brisbane has to offer at the moment (No Anchor and To The North on the 8th of May and Tear Gas and Quiet Steps on the 9th) . I got to the venue at about 9 o'clock, and to my surprise (and relief since the fliers says the door opens at 8) there were only a few people in there and no band has played yet.

Fifteen minutes after stepping my foot into the Step Inn, No Anchor was set to open the show. No Anchor is a 2 piece band - drums and bass/occasional shouts/vocals. I believe the drummer used to play in Look!Pond, another awesome band. To describe No Anchor sound would be quite a task. Just imagine a fuzzed out rock with Sabbath/Melvins riffs meets Boris stretched out into an affair of droning mess. Their set that night consisted of all songs from their new album Steam if I'm not mistaken, my memory is a bit fuzzy (pun intended). I managed to get my hand on a copy that night. The packaging is quite unique and cool, just like they did with their debut Fire Flood And Acid Mud. A lot of thoughts seemed to be put into the artwork to reflect the band's aesthetic and sound which is something i really admire.

No Anchor website
No Anchor myspace



To The North were up next. The venue was a bit more filled by the time they're about to play. For those who aren't familiar with the band, think of Kinsella's bands (especially Owls and Ghosts and Vodka) meets Hot Cross with some jazz tendencies and you're somewhat close. In my opinion, these guys mashed their influences pretty well and turned it into something refreshing and relatively new. With only an EP and a 7" split with Ohana in their back catalog under the span of 3 years, they have managed to sustained a small group but loyal following. Their set consisted of mostly new songs that they have been playing for a while now except for "We Are Not Ashamed "which can be found on Face First Compilation (www.myspace.com/facefirstcomps). Their new LP should be out in a few months.

To The North myspace
To The North blog



Up next is Circuits, from Melbourne who happened to be Daniel Striped Tiger national support for this tour. I had heard a few tracks on their myspace prior to the show and they didn't sound too bad. It turned out 3/4 of the band are also in Majorca with the chick who runs Yellow Ghost Records on vocals and ex-bassist of Quebec. Straight off the bat, they launched into song after song with very manic and enjoyable performance. The music itself has that thrashy screamo vibe to it with a lot of melodies and octaves. I could definitely hear parts that reminds me of His Hero Is Gone and more current bands like Ampere. Some parts are really cool, and some are just downright sloppy. It'd be interesting to see where they would go from here, after all they're still a young band.

Circuits myspace

Daniel Striped Tiger were the last band to play and it's no secret that i like their music a lot (see a few post below). They launched into their set with "Dawn Flared Into" off the Desert Bird EP and their set that night pretty much consisted of a few songs from each releases plus a new track, Was It? which will be on their upcoming split with Teenage Cool Kids from Texas. Singing along to "Untying Knot" is still the highlight of the night for me as it's probably my favorite Daniel Striped Tiger song. At the end of their set, the crowd asked them to play more songs. And they did!

Overall, it was a really good show although the turnout is somewhat disappointing. There were maybe about 40-50 people tops. It might have been because the show was on Thursday night. Whatever. They've missed out on a great show!

Daniel Striped Tiger myspace