Welcome to Arcadia, where the heroes are calling!
Wake up! For it is time to succumb to the mighty flow within here, Arcadia. Behold the rulers of this realm, the mighty cinematic, epic genre-fusing majesty that is Sweden’s Smash Into Pieces. The band have spread their musical chapters of epic proportions, outlining their story, as it spreads like a virus throughout the masses around the globe. But unlike a virus, meant to cripple and weaken, the band's ninth chapter, which brings them to Australian shores for the first time, is to empower and enrich fans with their enigmatic musical essence and creativity on-stage and off.
Let us see how this wildfire of an evolving global phenomenon will catch in a small, nay, very small venue, rather than the full scale dominance of their usual shows…
As a truly dynamic cinematic intro starts, equipped with LED screens at the stage’s back, dramatic booming bass (which literally shakes me and the small yet beautiful venue,) leaving me thankful that I’m wearing earplugs, plus in-sync lighting, I fear that lead singer Chris’s vocals may fall short in the flurry of bass and cinema antics. The band emerge onto the stage in perfect synchronicity and timing of the song, ‘Flow’ and its beat-drop. When said beat and all accompanying sound elements, mixed sublimely, me and those around me get well and truly enwrapped in the just that, flow… and the force is strong in that one!
As for my fear of Chris’s vocals being burnt to smoulders in the inferno of sounds, when the vocals were meant to come in during ‘Flow’ I thought my fears had come to fruition. However, I’m not sure whether the vocals were adjusted quickly, or Chris made adjustments on his part, or maybe I didn’t hear the vocals because they simply were delayed to build up suspense? Regardless, as the song progresses and the subsequent songs in its wake, even with the audience singing along like loyal die-hard fans which they evidently are, I can still hear Chris’s voice easily, and wow does its potency hit home and leave an Afterglow in my soul… sorry, couldn’t help myself.
Photos by Brock Morgan
Guitarists Benjamin and Per, constantly swap positions on the stage, high-fiving, shaking hands, hugging and singing right up in our faces here at the front, I mean, I’ve gotta make sure I don’t head-bang straight into one of their guitars as hilarious as that would be! And this display of personal connection is sustained throughout the whole show! It’s clear the band are loving the intimate venue size!
As for the other two band members, lead singer Chris and the illustrious futuristic drummer Apok? Well, for all I know Chris could be hugging me, high-fiving and singing to me, but honestly, the stage is a blaze in motion and lighting from both venue and LED backdrops plus Apok’s own LED mask and lasers at his fingertips, it truly is a sight to behold, even for me with a fraction of sight!
One thing of importance to note also, is that between songs, when typically artists will take a few seconds, no matter how brief, to maybe have a sip of water, grab a new instrument or talk to the audience, Smash Into Pieces do things a bit differently. Between songs tonight, are interludes, played over the speakers and on the LED screen, to both add to the apocalyptic, A.I age, cinematic essence of the performance, as well as to give the band a chance to regroup. The band do chat to us in the audience, but instead of breaking the performances continuity, they do-so during intro’s, outro’s and bridge sections predominantly, very rarely breaking the flow.
All this is packed into a golden bullet of tracks including all my personal favourites, like ‘Trigger’, ‘All Eyes On You’, ‘Arcadia’, ‘Heroes Are Calling’, ‘Venom’ and my #1 favourite, which I told Benjamin and Per in our interview before the show, that if they don’t play I’d cry, ‘Six Feet Under’ as their grand finale!
(Click here to watch the full interview)
My Apple watch reckons I did 3,500 steps during the bands performance with the way I was constantly dancing/rocking out, and as a result, I’m drenched in sweat! Surprisingly however, the performance was apparently only about one hour and ten minutes long, rather than the typical ninety minute set! Disappointing? Not even slightly! I’m shocked that was only a touch over an hour, as they played at least fifteen songs, including all my favourites and delivered them in blazing energy with a stadium quality stage presence and effects build.
I’m anything but disappointed, I’m not left craving more, don’t get me wrong, if they had more to give I’d be getting that step-count up higher, but I’m left buzzing with their musical mark laser branded on my soul.
The band may have indeed infected me with a virus somehow, as days later I’m craving another dose. If anyone ever has a chance to witness their live performances, do NOT pass it up!
