Looking back on the VISION OF DISORDER Australian Tour of 1998.
Vision of Disorder is currently in the country as a part of the travelling Soundwave lineup. As this occasion marks only the band’s second visit to Australia (albeit 15 years apart), we thought it was high time to take a look back on their initial tour of 1998.
I really can’t recall how I first heard VOD, but I have a sneaking suspicion it may have been through Mindsnare guitarist Beltsy on a trip to Melbourne. He was a big fan of the band and I may have taped something out of his collection perhaps. I do know that I was well aware of the band before the “Selftitled” and “Imprint” albums came out on Supersoul and Roadrunner Records.
At this point in time bands like Madball, Biohazard and Shelter were also on the Roadrunner label, but primarily it was regarded as a metal label trying to cash in. The late 90s were all about selling out and cashing in and keeping the scene pure, which in hindsight was definitely for good reason. The NYHC documentary that came out in 1996 also served as an introduction to the band for a lot of people, though the sound of VOD is hardly what one would categorise as traditionally being NYHC based.
Their latest album “Imprint” was a bit of a move away from the sound of their original debut 7inch ‘Still’ and “S/T” album for VOD. I do remember not being that into it really, except for a few tracks. Still I went along to both shows at the Iron Duke, the over 18s night show on the Saturday and the All Ages daytime show on the Sunday, more so to see Mindsnare. You got to keep in mind too, that hardcore tours were like hen’s teeth back then. You would be lucky to maybe get three of them a year. So any tour from an overseas band that was deemed as hardcore were usually well attended.
Support on the tour came from Melbourne’s Mindsnare who had last released the “White/Cobwebs” EP. Due to a rising backlash against new school hardcore in Sydney, many had decided not to continue supporting Mindsnare and so the band sadly decided to rarely visit.
I really don’t remember a hell of a lot about the shows to be honest until I re-watched the footage below. The band sounded pretty damn tight and amazing live, but as this was the pre-internet age the majority of us were expecting frontman Tim Williams to have blond dreadlocks as seen in the NYHC doco. For some stupid superficial reason I recall being disappointed abut this. Beltsy got up to share vocal duties on the VOD ‘hit’ song “Suffer”, as Beltsy isn’t one to bitch about the pain.
Anyways enjoy the pics and video and the trip back in time…
Melbourne show lineups.
Rachel De Cean took the shot below from the Adelaide show. Sining along with the black dreadlocks is Brett Eitzen from Outright / DOC/ ShotPointBlank/Samsara fame while in the backwards Independent hat is none other than Embodiment 12:14 frontman Darren Reid.
