TesseracT, Future Static @ Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide 7/5/2024
British prog giants TesseracT overpower the Lion Arts Factory stage in Adelaide. Not just musically, also lighting, presence, sheer heat. All combustible and contained in a Rubik’s cube of djent rhythms, down tuned guitars, and gentle vocals.
The fire-starters tonight though are Melbourne’s Future Static. Last here with Electric Callboy on an upbeat bouncing set they smartly reconfigure to tease the prog fans tonight with a show that displays their own unique armoury of musical weapons.
Weapons that include angelic vocals torn apart by a demonic force in Amariah Cook’s performance, pop grooves that descend into breakdowns of 10.0 on the Richter scale and a near perfect selection of wonderfully erratic tunes like Icarus, The Hourglass and Roach Queen.
Brits TesseracT though have the room bumper to bumper, not an inch of space is available, and the temperature is rising fast.
There is an ominous beginning of the smoke filling within the scattered lit room. The beat starts and then Natural Disaster hits, the jagged groove sawing through the haze as everyone claps along.
By Echoes, it’s clear a TesseracT show is not just some guys on stage, it’s an event, a moment in time encapsulated by dynamics, sound, feels and emotions.
Of Mind – Nocturne is tighter than a rubber band as vocalist Daniel Tompkins commands the venue. He prowls the stage like he owns it. To be fair, his performance and vocal range tonight is testament to the fact that he does.
Dystopia has fat rumbling groove that gets everyone dancing and Smile bursts into flames as the band headbang like holumenn on a Viking boat
It is performance art, the light show, the sound, the journey that each songs takes you on as the band finish their main set with a crowd jumping induced Juno.
As vocalist Tompkins brings the band out for the double Concealing Fate Part 2: Deception and Concealing Part 3: The Impossible not one soul has moved, each an eager purveyor of the intricate time changes, the soaring vocals and crunching bottom end.
Tonight was a special evening that your standard music fan wouldn’t get, the songs are not 4/4, however for those squeezed into the venue, it was like manna from heaven, each performance a story to be immersed in.
Live Review By Iain McCallum