Gig review – Avatar + Krave at the Triffid

Live review: Avatar + Krave at the Triffid, Brisbane, August 27, 2023

By DAN SOUTHALL

THE TRIFFID is bristling with excitement as the Swedish metal carnival that is Avatar breezes into town for their first ever Brisbane show.

It’s hard to imagine that a band with a reputation such as theirs has taken so long to get to our sunny shores. A quick look at the punters lined up it is easy to see that whatever kind of crazy the band are bringing, there is a lot of people ready and willing, even on a cooler Sunday night.

First though, Brisbane locals Krave kick off proceedings with their take on modern metal. A band that I have managed to catch once or twice at local shows, they do a great job as a three piece in winding the crowd up, as vocalist Siana Davis constantly demands the floor be moving and the pit be opened up. Teamed with guitarist Ryan White and his constantly entertaining but ridiculous face pulling exercises as well as a great foundation of solid rock and metal, by the time the band leaves the stage everyone is suitably warmed up and ready to go.

Avatar have a track record of bringing a great live show and despite the whirlwind nature of this tour it has been promised that they will bring the best of what they can. This being the third show in three nights it should shape up to be the best as the bands hits its stride and gets ready to give its all one last time. They begin their renowned theatrics as a masked gimp-like character hands instruments over to drummer John Alfredsson who then hands them out one by one to the rest of the band like an old sergeant preparing his troops for one final battle, before taking his drum throne. From these beginnings the band wastes no time getting into “Dance Devil Dance” as vocalist Johannes Eckerström hits the stage in a whirlwind of chaos, cementing his place as the lunatic court jester character the fans know and love.

The band plays a set that scratches the itch of fans from every era, although the newer material gets the largest reaction with plenty of small breaks in between of both banter and showmanship, from guitar duals between Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby (or The King) and Tim Öhrström and sermons from Eckerström. The pinnacle was the vocalist disappearing during ‘The Puppet Show’ only to arrive on the mezzanine level above us like the swivel-eyed Jester with a pump at the ready to make a balloon animal for the entertainment of us and his band-mates on the stage, before pulling out a trombone from somewhere and letting the brass solo of the track blast across the venue.

All of this fun and frivolity bring an atmosphere less of a gig or live concert and more akin to some kind of live theatre extravaganza; no one in the room could have lapped it up more.  This was hands down one of the best shows I have ever seen in this venue or any other similar sized one about town. When Avatar comes back (and they assured us they will be back) it will not be in a medium sized venue like this if tonight was anything to go by. After all of their hard work, Avatar are finally on their ascent and gone are the nerves of introducing themselves to new countries before audiences of five or six people.

IMAGE: Dan Southall.