Northlane, after touring major cities in 2015, have continued their busy schedule into the new year with the regional Howzat tour. The band play The Helm Friday January 22 with supports from the mathematic She Cries Wolf and the raucous Bare Bones. The atmosphere at The Helm is thick with anticipation. Not many bands of Northlane’s stature play in Mooloolaba and the crowd is appreciative.

The first band this evening, She Cries Wolf, make their way to the stage. I’m not familiar with the band, but I have heard a significant amount of hype around these guys so I’m excited to have my first introduction in such an intimate venue. She Cries Wolf have an astonishingly violent stage presence, playing intricate math metal with a passion that is quite endearing. Their music reminds me of another Australian band Humality, both bands fight hard to strike the balance between technicality and song writing. Some of the crowd discuss their similarity to early Dillinger Escape Plan and I can’t help but feel the band wouldn’t be too upset at the comparison. Although The Helm hasn’t yet reached capacity She Cries Wolf have made a substantial impact on those lucky enough to have arrived early enough to catch their set.

Bare Bones are up next. Self described as punk rock they are an interesting choice between the frenetic She Cries Wolf and the precision of Northlane. The music is an intriguing mix of modern stylistics and older blues and punk influenced guitar work, sitting somewhere between Aerosmith and Parkway Drive. Bare Bones deliver an energetic set of tight raucous punk but the music doesn’t quite match the rest of the night and you can’t help but feel that they don’t quite belong.

Northlane walk onstage to rapturous applause from the packed crowd. At this point every square foot of the venue is covered and the applause is deafening. Vocalist Marcus Bridge, on his first regional tour since joining the band in 2014, addresses the crowd briefly before the band launches into the set.

Live, the newer Node material is much more aggressive than on the album. Some of the intricacies are lost, but the increased power suits the packed venue. From the first note the crowd was a sea of flailing limbs, prompting many to be removed by security. Crowd interaction was left to little more than thanking the energetic crowd for their enthusiasm and support. This ensured that the energy was maintained as the band crafted through a carefully prepared set list of songs from Node and Singularity.

Re-emerging after a short break for the encore an enthused North proclaimed the band had two more songs. The decision to end on 2011’s Dispossession was unusual given the stylistic change apparent between the 2011 and 2015 releases. Perhaps in a larger venue the anthemic Animate may have been more appropriate, but in a dark overcrowded club Dispossession was a perfect homage to their roots. It brought together an electrifying set and left the crowd wanting more, much more. 

- Daniel Larsen