Live Review: Gotye, PVT & Bertie Blackman

19 December 2012 | 11:07 am | Susie Nim

simply nothing tops Hearts A Mess, it’s still De Backer’s greatest song and, tonight, it is performed with such passion it hits the stars.

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At a criminally early starting time, Bertie Blackman fights the up-hill battle of creating some ambience as the Riverstage gradually fills up. Still, she can't help but impress with an array of hits mainly lifted from recent album Pope Innocent X as well as her previous breakthrough Secrets And Lies. The obvious standouts are recent singles Boy and Mercy Killer but also the percussion-heavy Heart which remains her best track. The three-piece outfit works hard to capture Blackman's production-heavy sound, but still tends to rely on pre-recorded backing, and when you're hearing synths and see nothing but guitars, it sits awkwardly.

Sydney's PVT are the next cab off the musical rank and instantly impress with not only their musical prowess and beyond capable craftsmanship, but also with their electro-laden take on something that still feels like it lives in the rock world. They're in preview mode tonight as they spruik songs from their forthcoming album and are the perfect albeit somewhat chilled precursor to tonight's main event.

There's an anxious hush over the audience as the lights go down and Gotye – aka Wally de Backer – armed with quite the ensemble of guitars, synths, backing vocalists and brass players, hits the stage to a funk-heavy version of 2006's The Only Way. What Do You Want? from his 2003 debut Boardface comes next, showing the audience early on that De Backer is a man with songwriting prowess second to none. A pair of Making Mirrors tracks – the Day Tripper-esque Easy Way Out and the remarkable, spooky Smoke And Mirrors – are an early highlight topped only by the still-killer, tongue-in-cheek Thanks For Your Time.

From there, the show slips into something that can only be described as a naff as sin comedy segment featuring Barry Morgan, a character from Barry Organ's World of Organs. It's scripted, poorly executed and comes complete with giant “Mr Gotye” signs as De Backer and Morgan go through the various synth sounds that will be used on the subsequent State Of The Art. The song itself is tops and the breakdown of sounds is almost proof that no backing occurs at a Gotye show, but the inclusion of Morgan brings the vibe down considerably. Had this been followed with something other than the trio of Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You, Dig Your Own Hole and Night Drive, it may have been saved. But sadly, the show slips firmly into MOR world – Eyes Wide Open is the best John Farnham song he never wrote, while another pair of funeral-paced tunes follow. Somebody That I Used To Know is the obvious highlight featuring Bertie Blackman on the girl parts, while simply nothing tops Hearts A Mess, it's still De Backer's greatest song and, tonight, it is performed with such passion it hits the stars.

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