Lower Than Atlantis

support Siamese Fighting Fish
author PP date 17/11/12 venue BETA, Copenhagen, DEN

The whole All Killer No Filler concept was originally conceived to promote bands and shows that our staff felt particularly strongly about. That is to say, bands that we felt like aren't getting the attention they need and ones that this website stands firmly behind. It was felt therefore only right that the tenth anniversary of the club would feature two bands that you've seen covered on Rockfreaks.net to a great extent; local post-hardcore heroes in Siamese Fighting Fish are in a tough race towards being the most covered band live here, and our praise for Lower Than Atlantis' excellent "World Record" is something you've heard all of us talk about in great extent as well. While neither band has an enormous following just yet, the seeds for them to grow into the next level have been planted even if there have been a few bumps along the way (such as the LTA follow-up record).

Mirza of Siamese Fighting Fish

Siamese Fighting Fish

And so the upstairs room quickly fills up as Siamese Fighting Fish hit the first notes to their set, where funky violins, ambient atmospheres, cleanly sung alternative rock melodies, and post-hardcore screaming all fuse together in a flurry, which creates equivalent movement from the crowd during their best songs as well. They've brought along a sizable group of their own fans tonight, which ensures there is a good atmosphere with screaming teenage girls at the front and us older folks hugging our beers at the back. People are jumping and bouncing along in the middle, as the band does their best to keep the crowd entertained with both charismatic showmanship as well as showing off their technical prowess, such as when vocalist Mirza sings in a sky-high pitch to the same tune as the violin melody during the "Party Like Charlie Sheen" in a quirky little gimmick. And in what is quickly becoming a standard feature at Siamese Fighting Fish shows, Mirza's girlfriend Siri is introduced to the crowd as a guest vocalist during "Yes Say No". It's an additional feat that makes the SIFIFI show feel a little more varied, although the band does admittedly make the most of the small stage with good movement all across the board. A new song is aired, which borrows significantly from the Stream City repertoire, but sounds good nonetheless. They have decent energy, and they get the crowd going. What's not to like?

Lower Than Atlantis

Tonight is the first ever Lower Than Atlantis headline show outside of the UK, we're told by the band during their set, which makes it all the more special. They played their first ever show in Denmark earlier this year while supporting Young Guns at Vega, but that was before the release of their new album "Changing Tune", which has been largely regarded as a disappointment compared to "World Record" by fans and the media alike. That sentiment becomes all the more clear in a live setting where the contrast between the old songs and the new ones is stark, where old ones receive small sing alongs and generally a good response from the crowd, while the new ones have people standing still scratching their head aside from the one or two single-worthy songs from the album that are aired tonight. The album hasn't been out for that long, but it's just obvious throughout the set that the new melodies aren't anywhere near as strong as the phenomenal ones from their previous record.

Lower Than Atlantis

As a result, their short-ish set goes through a number of lulls in between the best songs, where the show has moments where it feels a little bit boring. It doesn't help much that a considerable part of the crowd leaves after the SIFIFI set towards the bar area and doesn't return for the rest of the set (c'mon, it's a free show, why not watch all the bands and maybe discover a new favorite?), which means the crowd dynamic diminishes significantly. It's always difficult to put on a great show when the venue is half-empty, but at least the band do a reasonably good job at trying, inciting a small circle pit for "Marilyn's Mansion" and performing the Slipknot inspired everyone sit down-then jump as the song gets going routine in order to work everyone up a little. It works for a while, but when the big sing along moment during final song "Deadliest Catch" fails miserably, it all starts feeling a little bit awkward. LTA aren't ready yet to headline outside of the UK where they play in front of hundreds if not thousands of people every night. It'll probably take another "World Record" type of album for the international scene to give them a similar response.

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Photos by: Jonas Mogensen

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