THE FAULT – Prologue / Epilogue EP Launch
Amplifier Bar
Fri 13th October 2006
Review By Rohan Hewson
Last year’s Next Big Thing winners the Fault have finally got around to releasing their debut EP, and they launched it at a big two stage, six band show at the Amplifier on Friday the 13th (so, cue a few Halloween-style costumes).
Fear of Comedy and The Preytells played first, with a bit of Jeff Strong in between, on a small stage out in the beer garden. Unfortunately I missed them, due to the insanely early start times. I’ve seen a bit of that at the Amps lately… 8.15 is very early to start a gig that goes past midnight.
Anyway, the next band up was Bus #56, and they didn’t disappoint; they’re always fun. A bit like the Red Hot Chili Peppers (OK, not THAT much like them, but the same funky rock sound). A great party band, and there were a few people on the dance floor getting groovy – obviously the last couple of bands warmed up the crowd pretty well.
Jeff Strong played some more out in the beer garden, on after Bus #56 finished. It was a little bit quieter than inside, being just him and his acoustic guitar and harmonica for most songs. He invited a few others up for one song, singing hard-to-hear backing vocals through the one microphone, and then finished when the band inside started. It was a nice way to run the night, with there being continuous music.
The Silents were somewhat less memorable… the sounded like they’d been listening to their dad’s old Beatles albums, and a few of their older brother’s Sonic Youth albums, and using that as their style. They were good enough at it, but nothing of their set really stuck in my head… I walked off after they finished humming ‘Orange Skies’ for the next half an hour. And yes, I know that isn’t a Silents song. They’ve got the potential to be quite good, though.
The Fault were the band everyone had come to see, and there were quite a few people there too – about 400 was the count, apparently. They played the five songs from their new (and very nice) EP, and a whole heap of other material that didn’t make it on. There’s nothing any worse about those songs… it bodes quite well for their next release. There was a mini-stage invasion during ‘Dr Mafesto‘, with about a dozen crazy drunk fans dancing on the stage around the band. It’s a wonder nothing got knocked over or broken… luckily no Friday 13th curse was around though. The song finished, the crazies got down, and the music went on, ending with keyboardist Akemi getting down off stage and the singer James’ dad playing keyboard to ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’ by the Beatles.
There wasn’t much hidden away tonight, though… there was plenty of love in the room for them. And good on ’em too… hopefully they’ll be launching another CD before too long.
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