3 days before I went to see Wicked Things perform at the Lansdowne, I challenged myself by not headbanging once I saw the band sticker at The Vanguard on Tuesday night. This was intended to conserve my head and neck for when the band and supports are to perform on stage. Once the 3 days was up, it was time to unleash it out.
First to perform is the explosively elegant Dimi. Her eclectic stage presence not only made the floor rumble, but her passionate energy had resulted in me and a couple of audience members headbanging. Her accompanying band members all showed exceptional amount of energy throughout her set. You can feel the energy they displayed, which in turn, got us moving along with them. There were a couple of times where Dimi crouched to her knees and slithered her hands around her body like a snake. It is a sign that she’s enjoying herself on stage. Her set is very memorable for being very explosive with memorable covers from her set, ie Joker And The Thief by Wolfmother and Back In Black by ACDC.
Next is the eclectic Ego Trip. Their instrumentation varies for each song, although the majority of their set is in standard E tuning. What’s unique about them is the second song of their set. Not only was it in drop D tuning, but it also had a cool breakdown to it. One of Robbie’s (the bassist and singer)’s compositions had no lyrics “and there never will be”. As a result, the song had a funky groove thanks to changing time signatures, cool riffs and a jazzy feel to it due to the ride cymbals. His “indulgent” description of the song made me feel immersed to it. While Robbie untied his hair after, he got to show two different looks which made the audience and fans love and appreciate him more.
Headliner Wicked Things showcases hard rock and heavy music you can reminisce to and enjoy from mostly the 1980s. Their songs also evoke an energetic rush of excitement and feeling you can instantly recognise and feel. And thus, you can headbang along to. Good Thing, which was recently released, is easily recognisable thanks to the drum's cowbell. Good Thing accurately releases that Friday night energy out such that we "sizzle and alight". The roaring riffs and overall instrumentation, including the whammys in the guitar solo, provide a sense of eclectic energy to go with the epic lighting scheme across every song. Thus, the inclusion of "Stand Up And Shout" in their set is very headbanging worthy, given how it provides you a rock anthem feeling and vibe. Hence, it makes you sing along to it by the 4th listen, and given how I had already listened to it roughly 8 times now, it was easy for me to yell the lyrics back at the band. Therefore, making the song memorable due to the catchy chorus.
In terms of stage presence, although Kaleb had two different looks of tied and untied hair, they symbolized two different personalities from him. One, the tied hair, where he’s relaxed and not exerting himself too much. The second, the untied hair, where he can move at great lengths. These include kneeling down, flicking his hair up quick, getting down on his knees and posture himself like he’s modeling at times. He sings at high registers very flawlessly, particularly sustaining the high notes with so much power and effort to articulate them perfectly. Blade and Gericho shows phenomenal teamwork with guitar and bass work respectively. Blade’s various postures of how he’s angling his guitar, particularly with his headstock aimed roughly 75 degrees up towards the ceiling, left me curious on how much higher he can aim for any future shows. Thus, Gericho also showcases his unique bass tapping abilities with his nimble and assertive fingers and hands. Cooper also shows unstoppable energy and determination on the drums, which has left us wanting more. Arguably one of the best parts of the show is when Kaleb is singing right in your face. Like he's literally in front of you and he's looking at you while singing. It gives you a feeling that you belong in not just his world, but also the entire band as well. It shows how much passion, dedication and commitment they all have towards their fans and audience in the room.
Their cover of “Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns N Roses had Kaleb inviting Dimi to perform a duet with him on stage. As soon as Blade played the opening riff in an almost subtle way, I almost lost it entirely. I was headbanging hard every time Cooper crashed the cymbals. Once the main riff happened after the toms, I was both headbanging and jumping from my spot. Dimi’s vocal range worked perfectly well for this cover while Kaleb also sang the third verse, which created an unstoppable chemistry between the two naturally talented and gifted vocalists.
Hence, their cover of “Hot For Teacher” by Van Halen resulted in me almost entirely losing it once again. I was bopping up and down uncontrollably when Cooper did the intro drum fills. Once he played the main drumming pattern, I was literally screaming through my lungs out of excitement. Hence, I couldn’t stop headbang, or rather, windmill-headbang during the cover, given how the infectious drumwork didn’t keep me at bay. Hence, the overall instrumentation got me and the audience/fans very excited.
Wicked Things’s “Good Time” Single Launch is arguably one of the best shows I’ve went to in 2023 so far. There is so much undeniable yet passionate energy that vibrates and fills the entire room of packed audience patrons and fans. Combined with wicked guitar/bass techniques, wicked yet persistent drumming and wicked yet outstanding vocals, they are one of the best, if not, explosive hard rock/heavy metal Sydney bands to emerge in the Australian Music Scene. I’m so super keen and excited to see where they go next from here on out!
Kommentare