TOUR DIARY #2: Hand of Mercy

Day 5: Monday 10 Nov - Day off

Rather then drive over night to Sydney, we decided to spend the night on the Sunny Coast and use the day to drive half way to our next destination, which saw us spend the night in Port Macquarie. We went and saw Interstellar and we collectively couldn't work out what that was all about, what a stinker.

Day 6: Tuesday 11 Nov - Canberra

The prospect of playing Canberra on a Tuesday night may not sound too promising to many touring bands and rightly so. But we went into tonight’s show optimistic and our expectations were well and truly blown out of the water!

Magpies in Canberra is a cool little Lic / AA venue right in the middle of the city, with a sweet sound system and RSL bar prices. It’s really all about what you make it. Locals Reigner killed it tonight and the crowd was overwhelmingly enthusiastic! All of the bands had a ball and were all truly appreciate for such a great show in our nations capital. The turn outs and reception we get in Canberra of late only make its easier to come back more often.

Day 7: Wednesday 12 Nov - Wodonga

It was a hot and intimate affair for the Resolve tour in Wodonga. Local band Viper Love were one of my favourites of the tour so far blending some Every Time I Die vibes with a pinch of Maylene and The Sons Of Disaster, sick job bro's! The show was a lot of fun and full credit must be given to the local punters surrounding Wodonga for not only coming down to show their support but for getting involved, singing along and moshing on a steaming Wednesday evening.

Day 8: Thursday 13 Nov - Melbourne 18 +

After driving overnight to Melbourne from Wodonga, we had a very well deserved sleep in and killer late breakfast. We loaded in early at the Evelyn Hotel and what a great venue that is! We had never been there before but it was such a cool space and the vibe hanging out on the street was awesome! Before the show we headed over to our label UNFD’s office and signed a few things and had a couple of beers and even ran into the one and only Jake G from In Hearts Wake. We did an instore signing at the 24 Hundred store which was a heap of fun! It’s always nice to have a chance to chill out and thank people personally for any support they may have shown the band.

We headed back to the Evelyn and the place was a buzz as our boys in Earth Caller opened up! They are seriously the next band to watch, so make sure you check them out. I managed to hear their upcoming record and it’s seriously mind blowing!

We were all so excited to be in Melbourne and to be playing and catching up with our friends and wanted this show to be our best yet! Unfortunately things didn't work out for us and we had an absolute barry crocker (shocker) of a show. Thinking back, all you can really do is laugh at the amount of technical difficulties that went wrong as each member had at least one mishap during the set. Sorry Melbourne! You gotta take the good with the bad and it’s not until you have a show go to shit that you truly appreciate all of the good ones. Oh well... We went out that night and definitely put that performance in the past and out of our minds.

Day 9: Friday 14 Nov Melbourne AA 

After last night’s performance we were all chomping at the bit to get everything sorted out for tonight’s all age show at Phoenix Youth Centre and make sure we kicked ass! When you spend so much time playing shows, writing, practicing, travelling etc it really cuts you down when you have a bad night and as the old saying goes, 'You’re only as good as your last performance'.

With that in mind, we were absolutely stoked to see Phoenix Youth Centre pack out hard for all of the bands on the show and the venue was a buzz! We have played quite a few shows here over the years but this was hands down the best AA show we have headlined in Melbourne yet! The energy and enthusiasm from the kids was infectious and we were all incredibly relieved to have shaken the funk from the previous nights gig. The songs from Resolve went down great, seeing kids singing along and having a good time will always provide a better piece of mind then any review or YouTube comment. Cheers Melbourne!

Oh yeah, a girl showed us a gnarly 'Trash The Party' inspired tattoo!

Day 10: Saturday 15 Nov Adelaide

Rolling into Fowlers in Adelaide is probably the most familiar venue that we get to play with the most homeliest vibe. It seriously feels like you are stopping off to play at a friends house, the staff are amazing, the fridge is always fully stocked and the sound rules!

We were even luckier tonight that there was no barrier, which made the whole event that much more fun and meant that all the bands and people at the show could truly connect and feed off of each other. We were lucky enough to have another great show, which I think we are all truly appreciative of again haha. We got to play Dexter as an encore tonight and that final break down was pure chaos!

Day 11 : Sunday 16 Nov Mildura

The usually daunting task of driving 18 hours over night from Adelaide home to Sydney was broken up with a show in Mildura, about four and a half hours away. For someone who can't sleep on over night drives, this is always very much welcomed!

While the show was quite small, it was hard not to have fun and feed off the positive vibes from all of the kids at the show. They were all so truly thankful for us being there and coming to their town that you could only smile and feed off their infectious excitement!

Yeah, Mildura is actually in the middle of nowhere but who's to say the kids living in the surrounds shouldn't get the same opportunities for shows as anyone else? Hopefully we will be back again some time soon and more shows can stop by here too.

The first entry in Hand of Mercy's tour blog is available here.

Catch the band on the remaining dates of the ‘Resolve’ tour with Hellions and Void of Vision.

‘Resolve’ is out now via UNFD. Read our review here.