Northlane - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 26th October @ Galatos, Auckland New Zealand
Northlane
Galatos, Auckland New Zealand
October 26th, 2019
Support: Seas of Conflict, Crooked Royals and Richie Hardcore
As we arrived to Galatos, the first opening band should have been starting in a couple of minutes, but the line was going around the corner to get in. That however didn’t stop the band going on on time and playing to the decent crowd that had already packed in and continued to build. The first band to take the stage were Auckland band Crooked Royals.
Crooked Royals have had a decent run of opening slots, recently opening for another Australian band, Polaris. The crowd had taken the opportunity to just embrace the space they had, however the band encouraged them to come forward and get into it. They were a bit hesitant at first but as more people came in and the set got further through, the crowd started getting a bit wild. I have seen these guys play a few times and I always find it interesting when they crack jokes on stage. It’s funny but sometimes I wonder if the crowd even cares because they’re just generally there to get loose. The other thing I noticed and that I found particularly annoying in some ways is who is at the front of this. I mean there’s obviously two vocalists but it was almost like a fight to see who was going to be at the front, regardless of if you were actually on the mic at the time. Sharing is caring guys. But they had good crowd interaction and really got the crowd hyped for Northlane and the next opening band.
Next to take the stage were Hamilton based band Seas of Conflict. Seas have started making themselves a bit known in Australia, but I’d say nearly everyone in NZ knows who Seas of Conflict are and you just know the crowd is going to go off. They kicked off their set with ‘Ashfall’ and the crowd just opened up the pit and went off from start to end. It was insane. “Let’s give Northlane a night to remember”. Seas of Conflict really get into their performances and probably give just as much energy as the crowds they perform too. It can be a bit hard sometimes for vocalists to do much as they aren’t playing an instrument but Cody Naidoo brings a personality to it, the way he moves while he performs or the occasional random dancing he does in between. His high-pitched screams are also an insane surprise that really does somewhat kick you in the face. During their sets you also can’t help it notice drummer Nic Martin. He is just so into it and almost seems possessed. I really couldn’t fault these guys and it was awesome to see them give such a great performance and get this crowd ready for Northlane.
The wait for Northlane was tense. The stage was getting cleared and the crowd were just getting antsy. Before Northlane took the stage, Richie Hardcore spoke on violence against women, mental health etc. It was awesome to see the band allowing this as it is important that people understand these things, whether they want to hear it or not. The full video can be seen on Richie’s Facebook page.
As Richie departed the stage an intro began to play out as Northlane took the stage and kicked into ‘Talking Heads’ off their new album Alien (our review here). From that point it was almost somewhat of a blur, the crowd was insane, Northlane were going off and it was all just so good. Though I have to admit the lighting wasn’t great. It really didn’t add to the performance in any way. Though we have a different stage setup to what they have in Australia, so I don’t know if that had anything to do with it.
The crowd loved the heavy breakdowns in ‘Jinn’ but I think they got even more worked up when the band followed it with ‘Rot’. The crowd clapped along, moshed and sang/screamed so loudly to it. There were only a few crowd surfers during the set and the stage, as covered as it was, became a bit of a launching platform. That freaked me out in a way that there were so many wires from the guitar pedals etc that they could have dome damage. Apart from one guy falling on me in the photo pit though, all seemed fine. “It’s great to be back in Auckland. Shout out to Ethan who owns all our shirts! Give it up for Ethan!” And speaking of acknowledging people, they also gave a shout out to the bands opening for them saying “You guys have some talent in New Zealand”. It wasn’t all just head-banging and screaming though. The guys even started dancing a bit with frontman Marcus Bridge tap dancing a bit during ‘Vultures’ and even admitting he got carried away “sorry I started dancing, then the dance took over”. The mosh pit got crazy though and you could actually feel the floor pulsating. The encore slowed it down with ‘Sleepless’, almost a bit of a breather, before the crowd just gave everything one last time for ‘Quantum Flux’.
Honestly, I felt like Auckland needed that. I needed that show. I’m sure you’ve seen some photos, posts and videos from the show that reflects this. It was a great night out in Auckland and definitely a better place to be considering the All Blacks lost (if you’re a sports fan).
Gig Review & Photo Gallery by Shelley Te Haara. Insta: @art.by.shelley
Please credit Wall of Sound and Shelley Te Haara if you repost photos.
Crooked Royals
Seas of Conflict
Richie Hardcore
[gallery ids="https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191026_091305000_iOS.jpg|,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191026_091528000_iOS.jpg|,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191026_091616000_iOS.jpg|" type="square"]
Northlane
.webp)
.webp)
