Live Review: Anberlin / Copeland / Angela' s Dish

Anberlin (USA) @ The Corner Hotel (Melbourne, VIC), Saturday June 9^th 2007

With guests Copeland (USA) and Angela’s Dish 

Review by Cameron Chambers 

Australia can’t seem to get enough of Anberlin. Their current/most recent trip down under marks the bands third tour in as many years. It’s been said that nothing beats word of mouth promotion, and never has this been more true in Anberlin’s case – without any support from radio or MTV (in this country at least) they have managed to sell out venues across the country. 

Angela’s Dish opened this evening and I’m sorry to say I still don’t see the big deal about this band. I’ve seen them play a bunch of times over the last few years and they’re yet to blow me away. That’s not to say that they’re bad, there just isn’t anything amazing about them. 

They’re certainly competent musicians and have a knack from writing cool songs but the vocals seem to be lacking that x factor to win me over. 

Copeland (USA) was up next and they did an admirable job of warming the crowd up for the headliners. Their mix of rock and pop seemed to go down well with a large number of punters and it was obvious from the queues at the merch stand that Copeland definitely brought their own fans along tonight. 

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I’m not all that familiar with Copeland’s recorded output, but I didn’t feel that they translated well as a live band. Their mix was clear and they are a tight unit but they aren’t what’d you call engaging performers. Admittedly this style of music isn’t exactly high energy so maybe I would’ve enjoyed their set a little more if I knew more of their songs. 

Anberlin are one band who prides themselves on giving an all out performance, and they didn’t let us down. From the first notes to the final ring out of their encore, Anberlin were incredible. Their set showcased a healthy mix of songs from their most recent release “Cities” and their sophomore record “Never Take Friendship Personal”, as well as the always awesome Ready Fuels from “Blueprints For The Black Market”. 

When speaking with Stephen (Anberlin vocalist) recently, he said that Cities was written with their ability to perform the record live in mind… and he wasn’t kidding. Tracks such as “Godspeed”, “Adelaide” and “Hello Alone” sounded great and the participation from the crowd must’ve blown the band away. There was more than one occasion when the audience’s vocal contributions were audible over the Corner Hotel PA! 

The addition of former Acceptance guitarist Christian has made a noticeable difference to the band’s stage show. While Nate (former guitarist) was a great performer, Christian’s presence and vocal harmonies are the perfect addition to an already amazing live outfit. 

It’d be hard to compare this show to previous Anberlin performances, as the difference in venue size forces bands to operate a little differently, so I’ll just say that it was on par with any one of the other 5 times I’ve been lucky enough to see this band.  

Another awesome show from Anberlin, and I expected nothing less.