Live review- Earthless,The Shrine @ the Barwon Club,Geelong 30/12/13

As a beautiful summers day drew to a close on the banks of the Barwon river,the punks and long hairs alike descended on Geelong's last true rock'n'roll venue,the Barwon Club for a night of high quality rock'n'roll.

I myself straddled in just in time to catch AllanCampbell.After a 4 year hiatus,this four piece got off to a slightly shakey start,but soon the riffs were flying and the rhythm was crunching,seeing technical intricacy blended with raw rock'n'roll.Featuring Mark Stewart-Sibson of Seedy Jeezus,I had high hopes for this band and I was not let down.
Next up was Geelong's own brand of sleeze-rock,the Dukes Of Deliciousness,or atleast,that's what I was expecting.to see.These riff worshipers are well known for putting on a great pub show,frontman Mike Findlay notorious for his sleezey jokes and stage presence,all in good humor of course.The Dukes hit the ground running,and straight away I felt I could take their music a lot more seriously.The comedy aspect has been toned down, and in its place the songwriting has stepped up,along with the sound to match.Mike has recently been filling the biggest pair of shoes in the land,playing bass for the Powder Monkeys and no doubt it has done some good for him,preaching his rock'n'roll message like he means it.Guitarist Billy 'Kilowatts' certainly knows his way round a guitar,tastefully pulling out licks and painting the town red with them,whilst Juicey Joe lays down fast riffs.When the Dukes initially roped in Juzzy Sticks on the drums,his metal background hadn't quite clicked with the rest of the band.Several years down the track,this legend now brings his own thrash metal spice to the group.Bloody delicious rock'n'roll.

After some initial technical problems,The Shrine flew headlong into some proper punk,fuzz,thrash goodness.Immediately Courtland Murphy's bass playing grabbed my attention,powerful and interesting,with a guitar like tone that really drove the riffs well, and drummer Jeff Murray matched the intensity.With an ear piercing amount of noise hurtling from an orange stack,Josh Landau's guitar playing was impossible to miss.Taking the band out of the repetitiveness that can sometimes bog down modern day punk,there were some heavy Sabbath vibes flowing here,and some old school thrash guitar playing.The crowd demanded an encore,and the band happily replied.Solid stuff.
Finally,all the way from L.A were the gods of Psychedelic rock themselves,Earthless.Opening with a track off their new album 'From The Ages',before drifting into the land of jamming,the floor shook with a gargantuan amount of sound.If you've never heard Earthless before,set aside a large amount of time and be prepared for endless wailing guitar solo's and jamming.Whilst the drumming of Mario Rubalcaba (of OFF! fame) is truly something,and bass player Mike Eginton pumps the mondo on a tasty rickenbacker,there is no doubt that Guitarist Isaiah Mitchell is the where all the attention is focused in this band.One punter said to me 'I just watched one guitar solo for an hour and a half,and I didn't get bored',and that is exactly right.Isaiah Mitchell laid down such an over-whelming torrent of psychedelic guitar work that one could honestly believe he was tearing a hole in the fabric of time itself,as every face in the room was melted into a drop of lava lamp wax.The constant driving energy of the rhythm section was forever soaring higher and higher into the stratosphere,and Mario's quick,tight fills were executed with precision,as were the quick turnarounds taking you from one idea to the next.
The set was a great balance of well known Earthless riffs and improvised jamming,masterfully stitched together into 3 long pieces that spanned an infinite amount of time.As the band wound down,the elongated outro felt a little overdone,dropping and peaking a few times too many.
Earthless suitably tore apart a packed Barwon Club,and left my brains splattered all over the floor.

All the musicians were tremendously down to earth,and more than happy to lap up all the attention afterwards.Top points to Heathen Skulls for having a well staffed merch desk,easily laid out and full of cool,unique things such as limited run posters,Australian tour releases,etc.
Geelong,I'll see you again for Kylesa in March!