Polaris, The Plot In You, Ambleside, Tapestry @ Fowlers Live, Adelaide 19/4/2018

Polaris have been making waves, not only here but around the world this last year. Fresh off a European tour and brilliant debut album The Mortal Coil, the band are back in Adelaide for a third time in six months; while the sold-out signs went up nationally quite some time ago. A hot, sweaty, packed and expectant Fowlers crowd awaited the next instalment on the rise and rise of this band.

Darwin band Tapestry open the evening preceding’s. This is a band that is making waves in the Australian scene currently. A blend of slow, melodic, moody tunes gets the already quickly filling crowd warmed up. Singles Dark Shade and Ghost making welcome appearances during the set.

Ambleside are Adelaide heroes returning home. As the place fills, the temperature rises and the band gets louder. Their angst-ridden melodies belie the heavy guitars. As the circle pits form, lead singer Daniel Stevens leads the crowd into a sing-a-long as Dean Lawrence and Jackson Buckler guitars crash away.

Ohio natives The Plot In You start with the atmospheric and beautiful Rigged, which burst in life a few minutes after an amazing solo vocal intro by Landon Tewers. They are bass heavy, making a tremendous amount of sound for a four-piece band.

You can tell these guys have been playing steadily around the world for the last few years, they are tight and work the crowd exceptionally well. Songs like My Old Ways and Not Just Breathing are explosive and by the time the epic Feel Nothing is performed, you begin to get the feeling this band is one break away from being huge. The final word though goes to the crowd, who cried for an encore which unfortunately didn’t arrive.

What can you say about Polaris that hasn’t already been written in the last twelve months. Debut album The Mortal Coil has catapulted this band into the public conscious across Australia; while a third show in six months in Adelaide alone, tells you how hard these boys are working.

Appearing on stage to the crushing Lucid, the crowd surge forward, hands are in the air while everyone sings in unison ‘I found my love and let it kill me’. This band get tighter, better, more cutting every time we see them.

The band smash straight into Relapse and The Slow Decay as vocalist Jamie Hails darts, bounces, implores the audience from his pulpit on stage. Security meanwhile are working overtime due to the sea of crowd surfers.

The set list is heavy on the excellent The Mortal Coil album as the sonic blasts keep coming. By the time show stopper The Remedy comes on, the audience are drenched and hoarse. The band though aren’t finished though as they smash out Sonder and Regress before departing from a crowd baying for more.

Polaris are the hottest ticket in Australia right now, as their sold-out tour shows, next time they are back around, don’t wait to buy a ticket, get in early. This band are going places, so get on and enjoy the ride.

Live Review by Iain McCallum