| ANBERLIN – Dance, Dance Downunder. |
| Written by Luke Oram |
| Friday, 28 August 2009 09:56 |
 Thank God for the Powerstation. Be it fire, liquidation, or the neighbours’ discontent; all of our fine city’s great gig venues are under fire. Granted, smaller clubs are popping up in the cracks of the CBD with canine feist, but our truly iconic venues are under fire. That’s why the final triumph of the Powerstation’s on-again-off-again relationship with existence, is that much sweeter. It’s a great joint; a huge club in the guise of an intimate showroom – it certainly struck a chord with Winterhaven’s radio kings ANBERLIN – wasn’t long before charismatic frontman Stephen Christian was promising to greet us all personally after the show, stopping inches short of buying us all a drink.  It’s taken Anberlin a long time to break ground. From their endearing debut 'Blueprints For The Black Market' in 2002, it’s taken Christian & Co. 4 albums to win over the radio and garner some major-label love. With 2008’s 'New Surrender' delivering the final blow in the form of bombastic hit single ‘Feel Good Drag’, you could excuse Anberlin for feeling a sense of entitlement; ordering an oversized logo-plastered stage curtain and strutting around like rock royalty. Well, one out of three ain’t bad. Walking in the onstage shadows, dwarfed by a huge arctic-rockface back-curtain, the boys proceeded to deliver a brilliantly crafted show that deftly covered all the facets of the winning rock & roll formula.  They struck it hard, strong and played all the hits. It all began with the double-drummer military opening of ‘The Resistance’; the dynamic duo of Christian McAlhaney and Joseph Milligan providing razor-sharp riffs, swaying between melodic and the violence of hardcore. Frontman Christian is a great performer; his voice like Robert Smith with teeth, his lyrics more poetic than most and his showmanship well-versed. Through all of this bassist Deon Rexroat cuts a swathe, stanced at the front of stage-left, his head thrown back and forth like a vertigo nightmare. Drummer Nate Young is on another planet altogether. The boy-faced James Dean of the band is all limbs and sticks, propelling the boys from the back through the heavy plod-groove of ‘Hello Alone’ and thrusting a supercharged version of ‘Godspeed’ into overdrive.  They even threw a few favours our way. Christian risked introducing Australian-inspired ‘Adelaide’ into the setlist; we put rivalries aside and appreciated the sentiment. It’s certainly a better title than ‘Auckland’. The rarely played ‘(Fin)’ also made an appearance, a slow-burner that sees Christian howling at the moon while the song crescendos from an acoustic ballad to towering anthem. Only ‘Readyfuels’ made it from way-back catalogue and into the frenzied encore. When the dust settled, Stephen told us he’d meet us on the floor. And it wasn’t just banter. He did too. For a band so well-deserving of egos and trappings, Anberlin preferred to bring a good, solid rock & roll show; every song with it’s sing-along hook driven like a shot into the Powerstation’s welcoming walls.  |
