Last week, I witnessed Texan crossover thrash metal band Power Trip decimate the Bendigo Hotel in Melbourne. It was a show that was sold out months before its date and one where the energy and interaction between a band truly on fire, and a crowd pumped, was all time.
Following a near-decade long slow simmer before the breakout success of Power Trip’s second album Nightmare Logic, the contents of a creation that took old school sounds, honed them in the hardcore scene, and made retro thrash feel fresh again, finally spilled over into the heavy metal mainstream. Numerous end-of-year lists, magazine covers, and support tours with bands such as Trivium, Cannibal Corpse, Hatebreed and Lamb of God has at this point cemented their not only long-term survival, but eventual dominance.
“Real recognises real” is what some might say. Perhaps there is something to be said for the slow-burn success as opposed to the overnight bust, but this is a band that despite all the hype surrounding them, ‘gets it’. It didn’t happen overnight, and there was never a guarantee, but it seems neither aspect of that bothered them.
With almost all the capital city shows around Australia selling out, it doesn’t take a genius to see that this band could have played larger rooms. There was more money that could have been made. 600 people across two sold-out weekend shows in Melbourne, on a very basic mathematical level, quite easily translates to 800-900 people in a bigger room for a single show. Yet, we got to feel a tense excitement, a palpable intimacy, and be a part of a vibe that was totally bang on for our first Power Trip experience. The band has grown from playing DIY punk rock squats, to headlining 1000 cap rooms in their homeland, and Australia started somewhere in the middle of that.
I feel at times that some tour promoters, managers, and/or bands cannot see the importance of creating formative spaces like this – even when things still aren’t fully formed. They do not see the bigger picture of the slow burn and how much that has a long-term payoff when it comes to a touring act’s long-term longevity. Sure, Power Trip is a special case, and they probably didn’t have some arsehole of a booking agent demanding they be paid a million dollars. But where possible, perhaps consider scaling the build. Withhold the supply over demand.
