sleepmakeswaves, Lite, Rolo Tomassi @ The Gov, Adelaide 3/10/2024
sleepmakeswaves are celebrating the tenth anniversary of their highly acclaimed second album Love Of Cartography which has well and truly propelled them in to the limelight and taken they all over the word. To commemorate the occasion they are doing a quick lap around the country with Lite and Rolo Tomassi. Three great bands made for an awesome bill and value for money as I doubt we would ever see bands like this play in Adelaide. It was definitely a well-considered line up that offered plenty of light and shade and some new bands to get excited about. Crowd numbers might have been lean but they more than made up for it in enthusiasm and appreciation that these bands played in Adelaide.
First up was British mathcore band Rolo Tomassi who have been building a solid reputation for their live show in the UK and Europe and seem to be making all the right types of noises. 2025 will no doubt be their year as the word continues to spread, I’m certain we will be hearing a lot more about them even though they have already have six albums out to their credit. They are definitely an interesting proposition with singer Eva Korman commanding attention with her lush and melodic vocals and then at the flick of a switch becoming more aggressive being described as “swapping between fragile lullabies to blood curdling scowls”. Opening with Drip their set featured the career spanning singles such as Stage Knives, Rituals, Aftermath and Cloaked that featured prominently in their career spanning set. Be sure to search Rolo Tomassi out on Spotify.
Lite from Japan are touring Australia for the very first time and holy smokes they played a blinder! Wow! If any band defies being put in a box saying they are this or that are these guys. Math rock is the term thrown around with their unique mix of prog and art rock with a heavier leaning. Touted as one of Japan’s top instrumental rock acts there is plenty to like. Lite are Nobuyuki Takeda (guitar), Kozo Kusumoto (guitar & synthesizer), Jun Izawa (bass), and Akinori Yamamoto (drums). With an occasional nod to the crowd and a wry smile they were living their best lives on stage. Set highlights included singles Deep Inside, Crushing, Endless Blue and Thread.
As sleepmakeswaves started setting up their gear bass player Alex Wilson stepped up to the microphone to apologise to the faithful as some of their gear had arrived late due to good ‘ole Qantas. Fortunately it was only a minor delay and as the band took the stage it was an enthusiastic response from the crowd as they wasted no time in playing the album Love Of Cartography start to end. Whilst there were no surprises with the set list they were seriously good! Elite! Opening with the bombastic Perfect Detonator it was hard to not be in awe of this band and how they go about it. On top of that it isn’t until you hear this album played in full where you can truly appreciate this piece of art.
Songs such as Traced in Constellations, Great Northern and Something Like Avalanches are epic moments in the set list but focusing on those alone takes away from the euphoria of other great moments in Emergent and Something Like Avalanches. I’m glad Alex acknowledged the diversity of music on offer and kudos to Bird’s Robe for curating a tour of this calibre and also adding that the experience and opportunities this band has given them is not lost. Alex also did point out his Korn t-shirt purchased in Indianapolis. It was almost an interesting admission that there would be no encore as they are “lazy, jaded and complacent after ten years”. Nevertheless, there is a touch of irony in set closer Your Time Will Come Again as there will be more to come from this great band.
Live Review By Rob Lyon