There are very few bands that I’ve seen play live as many times as I’ve seen Coheed & Cambria. Powderfinger would come close, but I suspect that they won’t be putting up much of a fight anymore, now that they’ve disbanded and all.

Coheed, however – ever keen to retain the “Most seen band by gerrod” crown – announced late last year that they would be touring in Australia. Huzzah! Obviously I was going to be buying tickets; however, things got even more interesting when I learned that one of the very few bands left on my “must see live” list – Circa Survive – were playing the opening act!

There was no way I was going to miss out on tickets! They went on sale at 9 AM on the 20th of December last year, and by 9:01 AM I had already received my confirmation e-mail from Ticketek, compete with tickets attached. (As it turns out, the show didn’t quite sell out, so the need for urgency was perhaps not as great as I had thought.)

So skip ahead to Friday night, and finally its time for the concert. I was underimpressed at the speed that The Tivoli let the patrons in after still finding myself in line over 45 minutes after the doors were supposed to open. I was worried that we were going to miss the start of Circa Survive’s set, but thankfully they didn’t come on until about 15 minutes after we finally got in.

We stood on the floor for their set (usually I go for the balcony at The Tivoli), and we were rewarded with a great view. I have to admit though, I thought the sound mixing was terrible. I could barely hear Anthony Green singing – though Ben tells me that from where he was on the balcony, it all sounded great. So perhaps we were just in a dead spot. But no matter; they were still a great live act – very humble – and they lived up to my expectations. I’d love to see them again though, headlining their own show – simply so I could see them play a longer set!

Coheed & Cambria came on about half an hour after Circa Survive had finished their set, to a very appreciative crowd.

I had always considered myself a pretty huge fan of their music, but oh my was I shown up by the audience. I’d say that at least half of the patrons had at least one Coheed & Cambria tattoo, and many had more. One girl I saw had a very impressive tattoo of The Keywork that took up most of her back. We also looked somewhat out of place since we were pretty much the only ones in the theatre not wearing all black.

But no matter – we were there for the music, and as usual it was brilliant. The moment they came on stage and started playing No World For Tomorrow, I was immediately reminded why I love the band so much. Overall, the setlist was heavy on tracks from their new (double) album, but there were a few older songs thrown in. I particularly liked The Crowing and In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, which garnered a very enthusiastic involvement from the crowd.

The only downside of seeing C&C play live for me is that it always makes me sad when I realise it will likely be a long time before I get to see them again. Hopefully not too long though!

I didn’t even bother trying to get tickets to Radiohead, as I figured that they’d somehow sell out a minute before they even went on sale.

Speaking to various people who did try to buy tickets online confirms this was the case; pretty much no-one I know was about to get through. This is where I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Al, who texted me about half-an-hour after tickets went on sale saying that he’d picked one up for me. How amazing is that?! And his secret? He lined up, old-school style – running to the Ticketmaster counter as soon as they opened. Clever!

Many, many months later and the tour finally rolled around. The entertainment centre’s new security policy meant it took ages for us to get through the gates, and by the time we’d got to the bar and ordered some drinks, not only had we completely missed the warm-up band, but it was pretty much time for Radiohead to come on! So we hurried through our drinks and took our seats – which turned out to be dead-centre in front of the stage.

Sure enough, the band came on only a few minutes after we sat down to the rapturous applause of the crowd. I had said to Al before the gig started that I was actually a little nervous; Radiohead were one of only a very few bands left on the “Bands to see live before I die” list, and I’m not sure if they realised how much pressure this put them under.

Sadly, with so many albums now behind them, they’re also now the type of band that would have to play for at least six hours in order to cover off all off the “favourite tunes” – and naturally, this would have to include both The Bends and OK Computer from cover to cover.

But, that’s really just nit-picking. Visually, they concert was up there with the best, with some very tricky (and very high definition) moving screens to characterise the stage. They played a very solid two-and-a-half hour set – including three encores – and they managed to tick off a large number of my favourite tracks. The highlights for me were probably “There, There” as I’d always wanted to know how they got such a phenomenal drumming sound (answer: they use four drummers), and “Paranoid Android” because that’s the song that really made me fall in love with their music.

And so, all in all, I have to say that I walked away a happy customer. Now, if only Billy Talent (thanks Ben), Biffy Clyro and Circa Survive would tour, my list would be looking rather short indeed!

I’ve almost lost count of the number of times I’ve seen Karnivool live. Actually that’s not true; it’s only three, with Friday night’s gig at The Tivoli being the third. This time they were touring on their “Melodias Frescas” (i.e. “Fresh Tunes”) tour, which logically you’d think means they were going to be playing a boatload of new music. Not so! I think I only heard four new tracks on the set list! But in truth I wasn’t complaining; the album Sound Awake is surely one of the greatest progressive rock albums out there at the moment, and they do an amazing job of performing it live.

Anyway – here’s a blurry photo of some people standing on a stage of lights, which surely proves that Stu, Rob, and I were there:

As much as I loved Karnivool’s performance, the biggest win of the night for me was the opening act – sleepmakeswaves – an instrumental post-rock outfit from Sydney. They were amazing! Their style of music complimented Karnivool perfectly, and we all enjoyed their short set thoroughly. Definitely worth checking out if you like your tunes on the heavier side, and you’re in the mood for trying something new.

If Kristy and I were to list the artists or bands that both of us absolutely love, Imogen Heap would likely be number one on the list; and it’s equally likely that there’d be absolutely no-one following her. This is probably for two reasons:

1. I have a strong preference for what Stacey affectionately terms, “Gerrod music” such as Rise Against; and
2. Kristy has a strong preference for what I affectionately term, “terrible music”, such as Death Cab for Cutie.

As such, it saddens me to know that we’ll probably never meet Imogen Heap in person, as I feel as though she needs to know what an honour she has to be at the top of our shared musical loves list.

Anyway, when we found out that she was playing one of the nights that we were in Melbourne, combined with her not coming to Brisbane for some reason (what gives, Imogen?) we made sure we got some tickets. Thank goodness for Kristy’s parents who kindly offered to babysit Oscar for us again!

Imogen Heap is one of those artists that most people would say they’ve never heard of, and yet she has a number of songs that most people probably know – the most famous of which is Hide and Seek. She uses a lot of effects and electronic processing throughout her music, so it was really interesting to watch her play it all live – suffice to say, she spends a lot of her time running between instruments, seamlessly singing along the whole time. She must be an amazing multitasker!

We both loved the way that she interacted with the crowd, telling us all about her music, or where she was when she wrote certain lyrics, or the reasons she liked using various pieces of equipment. As Ben put it so well once (talking about Dido in fact, but the point is the same), she “opened herself up and invited you to get to know her a little better as she shared the inspiration for most of her songs”. It really added a personal touch to the concert, making it that much more enjoyable.

It was a fantastic show, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Hopefully the next time she’s touring Australia she’ll make it up to Brisbane so we can see her play again!