Photography & Words: Darren Chan
With La Nina hitting Melbourne in full force, it didn’t deter fans from attending the first of two Melbourne shows from heavyweight rockers Butterfly Effect. This was a tour that was put on hold since the pandemic. But with their recent release of “IV”, their first album in 14 years, it was an opportunity to showcase new material amongst their classics.
Prog metal favourites Caligua’s Horse opened the night with tight musical precision and to a very receptive crowd. Thornhill had quite a number of fans at the show tonight wearing the band’s t-shirts. This is a metal band that has escalated in popularity. The band delivered an energetic live set spearheaded by the charismatic frontman Jacob Charlton as they worked through their catalog including “Raw”, “View from The Sun”, and “Casanova”.
To the IV album atmospheric opener “IV” playing, the crowd roared when Butterfly Effect took to the stage launching into “Dark Light” and the catchy “Window and the Watcher”. When someone yelled “Great to see you back boys!”, everyone was in agreement that it had been too long between shows.
To the heavy grind of “Always”, the crowd sang along in unison to singer Clint Boge. His theatrical mannerisms further shifted and shaped the mood for each song from the riff laden “Nil By Mouth“ , the melodic “Gone” to the bass line hook “Everyone Runs”. He paused a few times to thank the fans and acknowledge his gratefulness to be able to do live shows again.
The band returned for a brief encore which included the intricate new track “Visiting Hours” and tying the night with fan favourite “Reach”. The band is never one to take off after the show. They stuck around to chat to fans so in Clint’s words they “would leave the show feeling fully satisified.” They sure did!
