Russell HughesOn Wellington’s wettest night, Australia’s toughest sounding band tore apart New Zealand’s softest city with an orgy of destruction, mayhem and chaos.
Fresh off the back of eight sold out shows in Australia to promote the release of new album Half Living Things, the metalcore outfit graced their Kiwi brethren with a trip across the ditch. While the Wellington gig wasn’t a sell out – it doesn’t matter, as those who braved the elements to make it out showed that heavy music is alive and well in the capitol (hats off to superb support acts Lucre, Xile and Invent Animate).
Calling Wellington NZ’s softest city might be doing this government town a disservice, and if you’d ask anyone in the crowd about that statement, they’d probably respond with a fair amount of skepticism – especially given the Sunday night ruckus that was about as far away as a holy day of rest as you can get.
Alpha Wolf’s mad dog army made their presence felt with barks, crowd surfing and even a “Timatanga” haka – made famous by the All Blacks and performed mid pit after a request to see the ‘coolest thing New Zealand has to offer’ by rhythm guitarist Sabian Lynch.
With the winds battering down the hatches outside and the rain causing no end of problems, time and space stood still inside the halls as vocalist Lochie Keogh encouraged, demanded and received devotion from his crowd.
Alpha Wolf’s music doesn’t pause for breath and neither does their show. Blink and you’d miss them hammer through Haunter, Creep, Acid Romance and Sub-Zero.
Then, finally, sweat was allowed to cool and red mist disappeared before Bring Back the Noise hit and then a venue-sized wall of death and then stage divers and then.. and then… christ its Sunday and there’s work in the morning.
With Keogh wearing his sweat towel like a shawl, he was giving as good as he got. You’d forgive him any signs of fatigue following a massive album release tour – but like support mates Invent Animates – a heavy touring schedule was no excuse for the band, who matched the crowd’s energy and lead by example.
You’d expect any band called Alpha Wolf to conduct itself a certain way, and leaving the show with their drum kit being pulled apart during the final song Akudama was exactly how it should have ended – in chaos, with all bands on the bill on the stage at once – Keogh stuffing a cymbal down his pants and the tour manager grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Woof.