The Mark of Cain 8-March-2013 @ HQ

[hellboy]

It's been far too long between drinks for Adelaide band the Mark of Cain, and tonight after over 10 years of waiting (and people say Tool take a long time between albums) they finally returned to the live scene with a bang.

The night started off with what I presume are a local band called Fluffy.  The less said about them the better.

The main support act was Melbourne band Blacklevel Embassy.  These guys are essentially an Australian version of Shellac, and were reasonably entertaining despite some serious sound issues at the beginning off the set.  A little too derivative for my liking, but they performed with some conviction so was a solid show.

The Mark of Cain hit the stage at around 10:30pm kicking off with a couple of classics from the Ill At Ease album.  The set list drew equally from the bands last three albums, and the only song played from anything prior to Ill At Ease was Battlesick.  It would have been nice to see some older stuff, but the set list was excellent and I doubt will disappoint many who go to the shows.

The band played six tracks from the new album, though sadly they didn't play my favorite Grey 11.  Not all of them came across well, a couple used some trigger samples for backing vocals which I'm not sure really worked.  1000 Yards was a definite highlight of the set for me.  The band played for about 90 minutes, which is a great effort from a "local" band.  The encore was particularly good, ending with an almost perfect combination of LMA and Pointman.

A few minor gripes; the sound wasn't fantastic, the vocals were lost in the mix a bit.  The show was quite loud (not excessively so, but not far off either) so I can't help but feel that winding it back slightly might have made a difference.  Other issue was the lighting.  Not sure if it's specific to the venue (I don't remember having an issue at prior gigs there) but there were two banks of spotlights aimed directly at the moshpit.  I think they were there to provide some moody backlighting, but in reality it just blinded everyone on the floor area.  I never wanted my sunglasses more in my life.

It was also the first time for their new drummer Eli Green.  Anyone who has any doubt over how good the band will be without John Stanier can put those feelings to rest - Eli hit well and hit hard.  Stanier is obviously a hard act to follow, and while Eli doesn't top his ability by any means, he certainly is fills those boots without any real deficiencies.

Overall, it was a fantastic show.  The Mark of Cain are something else live, and to be honest there's no Australia band I've seen that even comes close to their intensity on stage.  If Karnivool were half the band TMOC are live, I'd have a lot more respect for them.  If you're in Australia and sitting on the fence about going to these shows - time to jump off it and buy a ticket.

[Busty McCracken]

Pretty devo they're not coming up to FNQ..

 

Did you ever see Cog in their Just Visiting days?? I found them to rival Mark Of Cain live. Both bands absolute beasts live. 

[hellboy]

Saw Cog a couple of times, excellent both times.  The Mark of Cain definitely tops them in my opinion, but I'd have no hesitation seeing either again should the opportunity present itself.

[petemasterpete]

did they play retaliate?

[hellboy]

Setlist included (not in order):

 

First Time
Interloper
The Contender
Pointman
LMA
Tell Me
Barkhammer
Avenger
Seperatist
Milosevic
1000 Yards
Heart of Stone
Familiar Territory
Retaliate
Sleep
Battlesick

[petemasterpete]

Mike Patton programmed Rage last night, and mixed within a quite solid and eclectic set of tracks, between the obvious troll picks, to my not-so-surprised self, he played retaliate... so there