Manning Bar, Sydney
Friday September 7, 2018 :
In the interest of transparency, let me start this by saying I am a self confessed Mammal tragic and am completely biased whilst penning this review. I have seen Mammal many times at many different venues and have always walked away on a massive high from the energetic performance that this band always delivers.
They opened with new track ‘Virtue Signalling’ which I hadn’t really listened to much before the show as I always find I like their songs more when I hear them live – and I wasn’t disappointed! Great beat, heavy riffs that the crowd was immediately into. Some old favourites next got the crowd really moving and as always, frontman Ox reflected that energy right back to the punters.
We had had taken along two Mammal virgins, Kerri and Kara who hadn’t heard of the band before, but by the end of ‘Nagasaki in Flames’, we were front and centre in the mosh and most definitely converted.
‘Dead’ is another new track that had the familiar Mammal energy but with a new sound to it. Ox then came down into the crowd for a significant time interacting with the crowd whilst performing. Playing a show at a small venue like Manning means that the crowd definitely gets more interaction with the band than other shows I’ve been to and it is something special to be able to lock eyes with the artist whose lyrics you are singing word for word. Mammal have a real powerful connection with their fans, Pete, Nick and Zane keep that on stage energy flowing even when Zeke is running around in the pit with the crowd.
Tour mate Fresh Violet came up and performed on one of the new tracks with the band. She and Zeke had a great spark on stage and complimented each other well, I enjoyed the mash up of their vocal styles.
Mammal crowds are always respectful, so while the pit can get rough, it’s always safe – every time I saw someone fall over, others around immediately cleared the space and picked them up. So even though it was pretty hectic for the last two classic songs ‘Inciting’ and ‘Hell Yeah’, the crowd was excellent to each other which makes for an all round top notch live show.
If you ever get the chance to see a live Mammal show take that opportunity with both hands running, even if you’ve never heard one of their songs. Kerri and Kara can confirm. 12/10
Reviewer : Alison Chisholm
Photographer : Joshua South
