Mind blasting music memories were created the night I finally saw Karnivool perform live at the Germacy Theater in NYC. March 31, 2010 will be a day I will never forget. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of the NYC crowd and was astounded to see how many fans Karnivool and co-headliners Fair To Midland lured out to the theater that night.

Karnivool’s whole set was simply amazing from beginning to end. I was ecstatic to hear a few songs off of Themata. But I have to say that the highlight of the set for me was when Karnivool performed “New Day,” not only because it is my favorite song on their latest record Sound Awake, but also because of the crowd’s reaction to them playing it.

Everyone immediately screamed with excitement and started singing the lyrics. At one point lead vocalist Ian Kenny stopped and let the crowd sing and mouthed “WOW,” to the crowd. Seeing his amazed reaction made me realize that I wasn’t the only one in that room surprised and blown away with the crowd’s obvious love for “New Day.” That song is so inspirational itself, but mixed with that much response from the crowd was an eye opener of how Karnivool’s music has connected with their fans.

Karnivool’s performance was spot on. All of the band members let themselves submerge into the music. It felt and looked like they let all of their passion and talent flow through each other and within themselves onto the audience.

During “Dead Man” Ian was so deeply into the music that he sat on the stage and curled up into a ball. His intensity bounced back and forth between him and the whole band. Bassist Jon Stockman has such a great stage presence and ran around feeding off of everyone’s energy. Guitarist Mark Hosking and Drew Goddard and drummer Steve Judd were equally amazing in bringing the sound and energy level to the maximum.

Karnivool is in the experimental rock genre, but yet they remind me of classic rock where bands made music to make music. I just wish more of America would grasp the band’s music and give them a chance to blow their minds out of the Nickelback coma they seem to be in.

I have to admit that I mainly made my trip to NYC to see Karnivool, but it was also a twofer for me because I have been a big fan of Fair To Midland for a few years now, but never had the opportunity to see them perform live.

The energy they brought out to the stage was intense and in your face pure passion, especially lead vocalist Darroh Sudderth. He moved around so much and gave off so much energy that the crowd went crazy! He was all over the stage and never skipped a beat.

I was floored to see and hear how much heavier FTM is live than on their album. It was a pleasant surprise. FTM started out intense and kept it up the whole time. I absolutely loved every single song they sang that night, but for some reason one of my favorites was “Rikki Tikki.” Darroh was so enthusiastic in pointing the mic at the audience getting them involved in singing along. I also loved how he could sing so deep and metal then go to singing mellow and then back to the intense singing. That song simply shows how much of a talented singer he truly is.

They played new songs “loophole” and “Musical Chairs” as well as “Walls of Jerichgo,” “Kyla Cries Cologne,” and “Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes” off of their last album Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True.

Links to the Photo Galleries from the show:

Karnivool March 31, 2010 @ The Blender Theater at Germacy, NYC

Fair To Midland March 31, 2010 @ The Blender Theater at Germacy, NYC

For more info on the bands check out their official websites:

Karnivool
http://www.karnivool.com.au/
http://www.facebook.com/karnivool
http://www.myspace.com/karnivool

Follow Karnivool on twitter:
http://twitter.com/KARNIVOOL

Fair To Midland
http://www.ftmband.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ftmband
http://www.myspace.com/fairtomidland

Follow Fair To Midland on twitter:
http://twitter.com/fairtomidland