Live Review: Perfume Genius, Seja, Mckisko

Ah, the old Queensland natural disaster, musher of grass and surefire financial ruin for any show planned in its path, though the latter not holding true tonight as a decent-sized crowd braces the bleak skies for the ever-enigmatic force that is Perfume Genius.

In solo mode, local act McKisko opens the night and it is a rather delightful way to begin, with Helen Franzmann going down the ever popular looping route and delivering on both a technical and entertainment level. The performance is slightly overshadowed by chattering bar staff and generally disorientated punters, which contributes to loss of the desired effect, but she still proves a decent choice for this breed of show.

Seeming to randomly duck her head up here and there for a show these days, Seja is a bit of a random inclusion on tonight’s bill, but a much-anticipated one nonetheless. The resultant show is a bit odd, however, with Vogel investing a large percentage of her musical chops in a midi trigger pad. The amount of ‘live’ music on show is quite minimal and a bit of a letdown, with vocals and the odd bit of synth making up most of the performance, apart from a rather bland section of Vogel on acoustic guitar which proved interesting enough considering there was duets and a track in German. It feels a little underwhelming for a proven musician, with recognisable upbeat number I’ll Get To You rounding out the set, but even this feels a little odd and a little too late.

It has been a relatively carefree uneventful evening up until the point that Perfume Genius takes the stage. As soon as the first thunderous rumble of bass from My Body kicks, this is another world we are about to enter. Last year’s Too Bright album saw Mike Hadreas expand musically and with full band in tow it’s in the live arena that he slaps you in the face with this change. Everything about the set seems to be well thought out and presented masterfully, from each song clearly beginning and ending – allowing them to be viewed as individual stories/pieces – through to the progression/construction of the set-list, which draws from his whole discography. Considering the progression of the band this works superbly well in the live arena, with full band flourishes in older songs such as Lookout, Lookout complementing the inevitable quieter solo moments.

Hadreas and his band are undoubtedly talented performers and this is seen in a lot of Too Bright’s material, Fool being a notable highlight as it drops in and out from its dynamic groove with an incredible falsetto vocal from Hadreas. Grid is also a highlight, bringing equal parts darkness to dancefloor fodder, while Queen and the heartbreaking All Along are also crowd pleasers. Everything about tonight’s performance is simply 100% top notch from the sound to the level of performance, with Hadreas inadvertently pointing out some drunk/bogan hecklers during a second encore Madonna cover being the cherry on top. One of the best sets that Brisbane will see this year from a talent that is going from strength to strength.