Killing Bear and About The Deadlines @ Mighty Mighty, Wellington, 15/02/13

Wellington was treated to not one, but two, album releases last Friday at Mighty Mighty. Kapiti duo Killing Bear and Wellington four-piece About The Deadlines both had new recordings to celebrate and where better to do it than at Mighty Mighty.

Killing Bear were up first and for a two-piece made one hell of a racket. I’d seen them before a few months ago, where they played a more subdued set. This time round they were out to shake things up and get people moving – a feat they quickly accomplished. The crowd was clearly loving their brand of blues-laced indie rock, and the band was thriving on the energy, joking with the audience, offering prizes for dancing and generally having a good time themselves.

To make sure no one missed out on the action onstage the band had attached a video camera to the microphone stand and used it to project live footage of themselves onto a screen behind the stage. It was a novel idea and added another level to their performance. After churning through songs from the new album (The Vine of Souls) and some older material they were prevented from leaving by the crowd and ended up playing a couple more songs as an encore.

If Killing Bear had got the crowd worked up then About The Deadlines blew their minds. They took the energy that was in the room and amplified it, putting on a stunning show that had even the most reluctant feet moving. Their music blends rock, funk and psychedelia to create something that times comes close to the funkier Faith No More tracks, and at other times is almost indescribable.

As singer Daniel Weetman contorts himself all over the stage, hanging off the microphone like it’s the only thing keeping him up, and creates loops and samples that interweave with the live instruments, the rest of the band hammer out some fine sounding tunes, full of low bluesy guitar riffs and huge drum beats. With experience in Fly My Pretties, The Black Seeds and the Roseneath Ragtime Band, the music is much more than just a sum of those parts.

Both bands performed exceptionally well and put on a show to be proud of. Their energy and expertise at performing live really showed in the crowd reaction to their sets, and the constant calls for encores.