03-12-2009 The Butterfly Effect

Supports: Atlantis; Venue:Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht (The Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

The Australian band The Butterfly Effect had a gig in Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht (The Netherlands). A support came from the local band Atlantis.

The first band to enter the stage was Atlantis who is the support today. Not too many people bothered to come early and see this act and actually that might have been a great idea. The band plays fully instrumental. After a calm intro there came a little bit faster song in which the guitarist of this band thought it was their highlight as he started to move like it was a full rock song. He was the only one though. Maybe he comes to his climax easily, but the audience steps back from the front rows, got another beer and I saw someone playing games on a Nintendo. When a strong electro beat comes in there was a little hope that it all got interesting, but the comments of the band in between made the impression that they were very insecure and telling about four times to your audience to buy your merchandise is perhaps a bit too desperate. An act you really don’t have to regret that you missed it!

When The Butterfly Effect started the venue was far more filled. The band formed in 1999 and have released three album, which latest dates back to 2008. The band has a charismatic front man who uses his charm to bring the emotions. The emotional part comes mainly via him, the other musicians are more focused on intensity. The band reminds a bit to the Manic Street Preachers. Here live, it is the drums who are quite pushed away in darkness and the guitars who tend to deliver the soul of the music. The audience remained quite calm and in a split second you see that this band does not attract too many young fans. Nevertheless towards the end of the set the performance got intimate, intense and cozy. The band played songs from all albums and the audience clearly appreciated the choices made, applauding when the songs were introduced either on-mic or just by starting to play them. The Australians have put on an interesting show, a little bit depressive atmosphere is there, but that certainly sets you back in the reality. Keep your eyes on the guitarist, you tend to be focused on the vocalist, but the whole experience would not be complete without these riffs.