Live Review: Owen Pallett

26 March 2015 | 9:46 am | Xavier Rubetzki Noonan

"Pallett’s compositions are remarkably complex on record, but the way he brought them to life on stage set minds reeling."

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Having failed to release any information outside of a door time of 8pm, Oxford Art Factory staff also neglected to inform the crowd that the support act, Huwston, were a no-show, and instead gleefully sold drinks to the increasingly irritated and confused crowd while more than 90 minutes ticked by.

The cover charge of $45 felt especially steep given the lacklustre DJ set and stock black and white film of leg photos in place of live entertainment.

It took a hell of a lot of goodwill to stay, and we were feeling for Owen Pallett as he took the stage before a frustrated crowd. Thankfully, the Canadian composer/musician was seriously professional and got right into the show, launching into a track from his new album, In Conflict. Pallett’s compositions are remarkably complex on record, but the way he brought them to life on stage set minds reeling.

Pallett’s violin was hooked up to all sorts of gadgets and gizmos – effects pedals, pitch-shifter, loop pedals, even the stand-in bass drum and snare of a cajón, built right into the body of the instrument. Seamlessly, Pallett’s emotive playing built upon itself and, rarely looking down at his pedals, he quickly cast a spell over the audience. Mere technical description would take away from the magic, but songs like I Am Not Afraid, capturing Pallett’s gender-nonspecific friend’s anxiety about childlessness, were gut-wrenchingly beautiful, and Pallett had the previously irate audience eating out of the palm of his hand. The set heavily featured songs from the new album, but also revisited older tracks, including those released under the name Final Fantasy. Lewis Takes Off His Shirt closed the show, with erratic synths and towering vocals giving the crowd the best possible send-off. One can’t help but imagine how much better the show could’ve been, but Pallett truly poured his all into his performance, and the crowd lapped it up.

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