Headliner: (hed p.e.)
Supports: Dirty Brew & Kobrakai
Venue: Wooly Mammoth, Brisbane

(hed) p.e. started their Unity tour last night in Brisbane, and the “G-Punk” masters brought a huge level of intensity mixed with massive doses insanity from the crowd, made for one hell of an evening.

First up was “Dirty Brew”, who label themselves as “Southern Influenced Metal”, to me, they were just all out fun! Straight up, in your face metal. Huge riffs, great songs, and an energy that couldn’t be stopped. I really hope to hear more from them in the future. Top Effort Guys!

Next up was “Kobrakai”, who labelled themselves as a “Political Band”. Very prog like sounds and very over indulgent playing. I’m all for activism, just don’t need it shoved down my throat from the stage. No offence guys, you just didn’t do it for me.

(hed) p.e. took to the stage, and you it would have been ok if you thought you were hearing some strange spaghetti western backing tape. It was actually front man Jahred on a mouth piano, which actually lulled me into a false sense of security as they soon blasted into their opening number “Killing Time” and the entire crowd erupted, and I mean, really erupted.

Besides being great players, the one thing I noticed watching the group, was just how much fun they have on stage, not just from the crowd interaction perspective, but also with each other. They just gel, and the music is all the better for it. They also love interjecting a lot of Marley tid bits into their tracks and the crowd got some great sing along opportunities with “Buffalo Soldier” and “Get Up, Stand Up” meshing into the(hed) p.e. tracks.

Tracks like “Sophia” “Waste” and “Lets Ride” kept the crowd going and Jahred Gomes showed such a wide range of his vocal abilities from mild almost whispering to huge growls that make you think his throat is going to explode. The crowd lapped it all up and chanted for the band in-between pretty much every song.

The drummer and bass player are one of the best rhythm sections I have seen in quite some time. They just click so well with one another and it lifts the entire performance to a different place. And as the set went on they just seemed to be getting tighter and tighter with no let up.

“Raise Hell” was a huge standout and great to see a band cover their entire catalogue and even better that a song almost 15 years on still sounded fresh. Of course, the band made sure to cover the hits with “Bartender” and “Renegade”, but the entire set it seemed that there was something for everyone and the crowds faces and voices made it ring true more than once.

Brisbane got a real treat tonight.(hed) p.e. were in top form, enjoying playing, the crowd and each other. If last night was anything to go buy, people are going to have a great time at the rest of the shows

To finish up; something needs to be said at this point about promoter Silverback Touring, a fresh face on the market, this tour being their first major hit out. Congrats Silverback. Well done guys, if this is anything to go buy, we are in for some great tours from you guys. Thank you.

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