LIVE: Saliva – Perth, 18 Feb 2018

Shane | 21 February 2018 | Reply

LIVE: Saliva – Perth, 18 Feb 2018
with Tempest Rising and Ragdoll
Rosemount Hotel; Sunday, 18 February, 2018
Reviewed by Kevin Curran

Saliva were in town for their first ever visit to Perth and Australia – and kudos to them for making the journey out West when many other bands of their stature don’t.

Local support came in the form of Ragdoll and Tempest Rising. Hard rock trio Ragdoll were up first with a short, well executed and tight set. Much respect to who was on the mixing desk for them tonight as they had a superb clear mix which gave justice to songs from their debut record Back To Zero, with Shine and Playing God coming across with a punch early on. Guitarist Leon Todd provides the energy and crowd interaction which is infectious, and looking around I think there a few who were witnessing Ragdoll for the first time and are now fans. Finishing off with closer All I Want, the three peice did all the right things for an opening band.

Up next were Tempest Rising. It’s apparent that they have a following, wth fans huddling in closer to the band in support from the start of their set. Vastly different to the previous act, Tempest Rising lean more to the metal side, and took the stage energy up a notch. Thats what works for these guys – heavy and energetic. Frontman Vin Trikeriotis does a great job getting those that stand with their hands in their pocket to come forward and bang their heads. A cover of Bulls On Parade by Rage Against The Machine didn’t hurt either, with the band well and truly warming the crowd up for Saliva.

It’s always a hard task replacing a lead singer, and that is what Saliva were forced to do in 2012 when original vocalist Josey Scott, who the band had most of their success with, left to pursue a Christian solo career. In new frontman Bobby Amaru the band has been revitalised and are continuing on the legacy of Saliva with Bobby bringing his own flavour yet giving creedence to the bands back catalogue.

Prime example of this is the opening tracks Ladies And Gentleman and Superstar, which both have that sense of familiarity, with Bobby having a similar raspy high range to his predecessor.

The frontman managed to get the energy out of the Perth crowd, who are known to being a little hesitant at first and do need a bit of coaxing to get that reaction. Making their way through the back catalogue the pace was changed up during the middle of the set with the band departing the stage to allow frontman Amaru to crack out an acoustic guitar for a few covers from Stone Sour, Alice in Chains, Silverchair and… Britney Spears, with a rendition of Hit Me Baby One More Time. Surprisingly the the crowd sang along with every lyric, proving there is a few closet Britney fans in the house tonight obviously.

An interesting choice was played next in Hero, a hit from the Spiderman soundtrack which wasn’t a Saliva song but more a solo collaboration by previous singer Josie Scott and Chad Kroeger from Nickelback. This song worked really well and was an excellent addition to the set.

The band came back onstage and crushed it with Always, arguably one of Saliva’s biggest songs, and Click Click Boom, which everyone sang along to. If i’m picky I would have liked to hear more of bassist Brad Stewart’s harmonies in the mix especially with Always.

Never-the-less Saliva produced the goods, ending the night strong with a great first showing in Perth.