In a pre-pandemic world, a Hands Like Houses Canberra gig would be advertised as the rock band returning for a home-town show.
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Of course, the five-piece will still play to a home-town crowd on Friday - that hasn't changed. What has changed is that they haven't spent the past 18 months touring.
Before Covid hit early last year, the band had more than 70 shows planned for 2020. This included tours of America, UK/Europe, Asia, South Africa, and, of course, Australia. Instead, the band played a total of two shows.
"The first indication for us was in March last year where we were billed to play on Download Festival," bass guitarist Joel Tyrrell says.
"It wasn't until about six days out that Sydney and Melbourne festivals were cancelled. That was before anything had gone into shutdown. That was, for us, really the start of pretty much cancelling an entire year's worth of touring."
The story is common amongst musicians, and artists in general. But it also makes their Canberra show that much more sweeter. They're not just playing to a hometown crowd. They're playing a gig, full stop.
Joined by fellow Canberra acts Citizen Kay and Hope Wilkins, it's been a while since the band has put on a show such as this in Canberra.
"It's nice for us to be able to bring our music to an audience and fans but also to expose them to some other great artists that hopefully they'll continue to support. I know that a lot of these artists are facing similar things to us," Tyrrell says.
"It's easy for us to be worried about our own business but I think the reality is, the problem's much bigger than just as losing 10 years of building a business.
"It's the worry of losing an entire industry. We're not only losing musicians but we're losing skilled labour in sound technicians, crew and everyone behind the scenes."
It will also be the first time the band will play their self-titled EP in Canberra, as it was intended to be played. That is, with their big, loud stadium rock sound and not acoustically - as they did do earlier this year when that all restrictions would allow.
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The EP's journey from recording to realise is an interesting one.
It was recorded before Covid, in a time where the band's producer Colin Brittain could fly over from Los Angeles before travelling to a holiday house on Avoca Beach on the Central Coast to record.
The EP's release was then put on hold when the pandemic first hit. When it became clear that Covid was not just a fleeting moment, the band decided to release it in November, knowing they wouldn't be able to tour with it.
"The biggest hit that we take is, we write music that we love, and then our way of expressing that is going out by playing shows," Tyrrell says.
"In a pre-Covid environment, we would have put out the EP, we would have done an Australia tour and we probably would have done a US tour and a UK/Europe run.
"Not being able to do those live performances is a big hit on a release for us."
- Hands Like Houses is at UC Refectory on Friday. Tickets from Moshtix.
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