Admission time. I fell in love with Voyager and their unique sound around the time when they launched their ‘V’ album. That love has grown even more intense with the release of their brand new album ‘Ghost Mile’ but upon seeing them live for the first time I have to say that no matter how much your adore their albums you really haven’t heard these guys until you’ve heard them live.
The crowd at The Evelyn Hotel were certainly put into a good mood by Voyager’s opening act The Algorithm. For those that were not lucky enough to catch The Algorithm at Big Day Out a few years ago this is a group that is a pure visual spectacle. While the mix of heavy music and dubstep will have some music purists horrified this is acquired taste that very quickly had the crowd at The Evelyn dancing in a way that is normally reserved for a bush doof. The electronic sounds that come from Remi Gallego is amazing while Jean Ferry has to be one of the hardest working drummers in the world and he ends up looking like Animal from The Muppets as he amazingly keeps up with the electronic beats.
With the crowd very much hyped already Voyager then took the stage and delivered a show and a half. The band then took the crowd into their own hands when they launched into one of their singles off ‘Ghost Mile’ – Acension which very quickly became a crowd favourite. What hits you first when you are watching Voyager live is just how easy it is for this band to be able to mix melody with pure hard aggression. It was then when they performed Misery Is Only Company that Danny Estrin’s brilliant vocal range really hit. Together with the backing melodies of Alex Canion these are vocals that are only enhanced further when you get to see them live. Estrin’s high notes are a wonder of modern music.
The other highlight of watching a Voyager show is getting to hear the brilliance of the duel guitars of Scott Kay and Simone Dow. The unique sounds that they are able to generate together during tracks like A Beautiful Mistake is something that should see this band playing to packed stadiums in the not too distant future.
The band’s eagerness to do things a little differently and to keep their audience constantly entertained seems them do interesting things like have their track Break Down suddenly morph into Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise and then later on doing the same with another track that ended up sampling Reel 2 Real’s I Like to Move It. The alarming thing is both worked really well and just added to the fact that this became a truly memorable night.
Voyager clearly showed at The Evelyn why they are one of Australia’s best bands at the moment. From tracks from their new album right through to older tracks like White Shadow this was a band that was absolute perfection all night… not even early mic problems could stop them. If you’re a fan of heavy music then seeing Voyager live is something that must be on your bucket list.
Photography by Vanessa Jarvis
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