Halfway through a North American tour, all odds were stacked against sludgy husband and wife duo Lullabye Arkestra for their Calgary appearance, which was met with a dismal turn-out. Whether it was a lack of promotion, the unsuitable opening bands or some other reason (the Flames' playoff run was obviously out of the cards), the evening's attendance was more than a little lacking.
Martin Fulton Overkill kicked off the night and played to what seemed like no one. The duo cranked out self-indulgent metal for what felt like an eternity. Their similarities to the headliners stopped at hard rock two-piece, and fell flat when it came to songwriting, stage presence and entertainment. Similarly, longtime Calgary quartet the Cripple Creek Fairies seemed out of place with a set of frat boy bar rock that went on for way too long.
By the time Lullabye Arkestra finally did take the stage, they were plagued with technical problems. Justin Small's mic stand continued to fall over while his crash cymbal came loose. Likewise, bassist Kat Taylor-Small had some buzzing amp problems by the second song. After five minutes of changing patch cords and scratching their heads, the duo couldn't fix the incessant buzzing sound between songs.
Rather than become discouraged, Lullabye Arkestra used these problems as the perfect catalyst to fully redeem themselves with menacing bass riffs, ecstatic drumming and their intense dual vocals. Thanks to the enthusiastic crowd, who had grown slightly by this point, the band poured themselves into their performance. Drawing equally from both their albums, along with acoutrements like a slaying Napalm Death cover, Lullabye Arkestra proved they could pull of an amazing show under any circumstance.
Martin Fulton Overkill kicked off the night and played to what seemed like no one. The duo cranked out self-indulgent metal for what felt like an eternity. Their similarities to the headliners stopped at hard rock two-piece, and fell flat when it came to songwriting, stage presence and entertainment. Similarly, longtime Calgary quartet the Cripple Creek Fairies seemed out of place with a set of frat boy bar rock that went on for way too long.
By the time Lullabye Arkestra finally did take the stage, they were plagued with technical problems. Justin Small's mic stand continued to fall over while his crash cymbal came loose. Likewise, bassist Kat Taylor-Small had some buzzing amp problems by the second song. After five minutes of changing patch cords and scratching their heads, the duo couldn't fix the incessant buzzing sound between songs.
Rather than become discouraged, Lullabye Arkestra used these problems as the perfect catalyst to fully redeem themselves with menacing bass riffs, ecstatic drumming and their intense dual vocals. Thanks to the enthusiastic crowd, who had grown slightly by this point, the band poured themselves into their performance. Drawing equally from both their albums, along with acoutrements like a slaying Napalm Death cover, Lullabye Arkestra proved they could pull of an amazing show under any circumstance.
