LIVE: COG – The Vinyl tour -

8 March 2024 – The Princess Theatre, Brisbane – words & pictures by Bec Harbour

With vinyl as the ‘new’ keepsake for gigs (the number of punters standing with a record under their arm in the crowd) COG have announced the release on vinyl of their seminal albums The New Normal and Sharing Space on vinyl as well as the first pressing of the compilation Just Visiting.

So hence, The Vinyl Tour. COG show up for shows very regularly and I have caught them quite a few times in the last few years. They never disappoint, and for that matter, neither does the turn-out for their gigs in Brisbane.

First up is Kodiak Empire. I have seen them previously at The Other Festival. While they were plagued with a few sound issues then (it’s hard being first up and ending up with a muddy mix), this time they were not. The Brisbane five piece looked like they were having the best time out there on the Princess stage. Their sound is interesting with only one detraction, a crash cymbal that sounded like we were about to get a Lunar New Year Lion dance through the theatre. I did enjoy their set and am keen to hear more from them.

Kodiak Empire – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour

Next up was Yomi Ship, the Perth three piece named after a Yu-Gi-Oh! character. I saw them at Monolith Festival a while ago, they have a shoe-gaze element to their music, with complex arrangements and an almost unearthly feel to their set. Each member seemed to be in their own space and time, delivering a very cohesive set and I hope they continue down the route that they have, as a more ethereal sound amongst the other more metal-prog bands is something quite refreshing.

Yomi Ship – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour

IN COG WE TRUST!

Those shirts were everywhere in the Princess, out in the beer garden, wandering around out the front of the theatre. I have never seen so many punters in t-shirts for the band. COG came out and the crowd went off! They kicked off their set with ‘Real Life’ and the whole crowd sung it word for word. In fact, the crowd sung along for just about every song on the set list.

The members of COG are quiet activists, tonight we see a large picture of Julian Assange on drummer Lucius Borich’s kick drum. A look at the stickers on guitarist, Flynn Gower’s guitar leaves no mystery to their political sentiments. The next song out of the set was ‘Are You Interested?’ and then ‘Anarchy OK’ leaves you with no confusion about where they sit politically.

COG – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour

The crowd were singing their lungs out for every song, I happened to be outside getting a breath of fresh air when they dedicated a song to someone (the theatre was stuffy and hot with so many singing bodies) later in the set.

COG – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour

COG put on an absolute cracker of a set, finishing up with ‘Problem Reaction Solution’. The real stars of Friday night’s show are the COG fans – they show up, they know every word to every song, they interact with the band in a respectful and almost reverent way.

All hail the mighty COG!

Set List

Real Life

Are You Interested?

Anarchy OK

Swamp

Sharing Space

What If

The Spine

Charades

The Town of Lincoln

Run