Back in the year 1999, Powerman 5000 released their industrial-electro masterpiece Tonight the Stars Revolt! Now fast forward over two-decades to 2023, and the band are celebrating the release of their seminal album with their first ever Australian tour.
Tonight it is Sydney’s turn to experience a hit of nu-metal nostalgia as hundreds of goths and metalheads descend on the Manning Bar. Local heavy metal supports Astrodeath and Our Last Enemy set the tone for the evening getting everyone revved up for what was ahead.
The time had come for Powerman 5000 to take to the stage, with bright green lasers shooting from the drummers and bass players wrists. Setting the scene for the night of cyber-punk madness that was about to unfold kicking things off with ‘Footsteps and Voices’.
From then on it was like the entire room was transported to a part-rave and part-metal nightclub reminiscent of The Matrix. With all of us happily heading down the neon rabbit hole with vocalist Spider One leading the way.
‘Nobody’s Real’ was the first taste they gave us from the album they are here to celebrate. ‘Supervillain’ got the demonic crowd jumping while ‘Black Lipstick’ showed us the bands synth wave side.
While playing the song ‘Horror Show’, the band stopped towards the end and started playing the iconic riff from The White Stripes ‘Seven Nation Army’. What happened next had to be seen to be believed as the band played a mash up of partial covers including The Angels ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’, INXS ‘Devil Inside’, Run DMC ‘It’s Tricky’, Billy Idol ‘Rebel Yell’, Rammstein ‘Du Hast’, Rob Zombie ‘Dragula’ and even The Wiggles’ ‘Fruit Salad’. It was a very strange part of the night, but cool to see the band paying homage to some Australian acts and a surprise getting to hear Spider cover one of his brother’s (Rob Zombie’s) songs.
The main set ended with ‘V is for Vampire’, followed by the explosive track ‘Bombshell’ which had the entire place erupt with energy. As the band left the stage this wasn’t to be the end.
The band burst back onto the stage and it was only fitting that they ended the night with songs from Tonight The Stars Revolt. Starting with ‘Supernova Goes Pop’, followed by the albums title track and lastly ending with the bands signature song ‘When Worlds Collide’.
In their first ever Sydney show, Powerman 5000 put on a killer, high-octane set. Spider’s vocals were on point throughout and both the band and light show combined to take us into a dark utopian fantasy, making us thankful the stars finally aligned to have them in the Land Down Under.
(Photos by Christian Ross)
