Live review from 20th Anniversary Festival Day 2 星期六
Dance
Touch the ground
Whatyoudoingtome
Home
Soul
G# (this song has no name )
Miserlou
Among the reunions and slight returns comes a band who have never played a gig. It’s part of what makes this night at the Underground such a wildly diverse haven for live music lovers. Of course, for a band battling first night nerves the soundcheck takes an inordinate amount of time, as the room fills beyond “full” to “packed” and expectations and impatient fiddling and shuffling begins to rise.
Who is this three piece? Surely that guitarist and that drummer are brothers? (“I’m getting Mars Volta vibes,” a crowd member whispers to me) And just how old is that drummer, anyway?
Chris B comes onstage and announces this is the live debut for Floor 13, and a sampled piece of French classical music plays… and then it’s straight into intensive rock/metal/rap that grabs the crowd, now enthusiastically clapping out rhythms and BAM!-straight into the next tune, and the crowd screams delight as the band keep pointing to the guitarists’ mic to get some volume.
It’s impossible to pin down where this band is coming from – the Killers? Bowie? Did they just lay down some hardcore punk riffs while the singer took on vocals like Sting?
The drumming is monstrously, magnificently powerful and it’s revealed he is… 15 years of age. The energy onstage is infectious, the chord and riff changes are epic and it’s plain to see there is so much more to come from this trio.
Sure enough, a young girl wearing a hoodie is invited up onstage, handed a mic and she delivers powerful vocals over crunchy alternative metal, again showing off the huge potential of this band.
The band announce their last number – and brother #1 on guitar rips into the signature guitar riff of Miserlou to screams and shouts of recognition from the audience. It’s a big rock finish from a band who have delivered a fantastic debut performance at the Underground.
The house lights come up and we are left wondering… What comes next for Floor 13?
When do we see them again?
– Jarrod Watt
