Live Review: Tortoise, Margins, Mr Maps

A night of aural delights opens up with a seemingly rare Mr. Maps performance, so low to the ground they have been over recent months. They have a new drummer in tow who has only rehearsed with full band three times, but as they launch into their set any trepidation is flayed away. They are in phenomenal form, clearly enjoying themselves as they oscillate around an incredible performance from the new kid on the block. Briony Luttrell's cello is a beautifully understated counterpoint to Chris Perren's intricate guitar lines, whilst Andrew White and Mitch Knox pin everything down on bass and keys/guitar respectively. Every song is its own being, a living, breathing beast that lives on well after the last perfectly-timed note chimes out. The bar has been set ridiculously high – how these guys aren't the toast of Australian music is beyond comprehension.

Next up is Margins, and whilst their take on instrumental rock is more sombre and genre specific, the songs weave together in a metronomic maelstrom. Sitting down as if by campfire (a trait Mono utilises to great effect) and with slow-motion images of synchronised swimming backlighting the stage, the quartet is an exercise in controlled tension. Adam Cooper (of Blacklevel Embassy fame) is the pivotal part within this machine, as his guitarwork guides the songs to wrack and ruin. The set is dark and brooding, like the bruised hue of the horizon as the storm of the century rumbles forth. The elegiac and intense set impresses with the silences as much as the cathartic releases, proving Margins are a force to be reckoned with.

Tortoise takes to the stage and launch into a remarkable set of precision and dexterity that continually defies definition. Two drum kits are the focal point of the stage, with John McEntire, John Herndon and Dan Bitney a syncopated triptych of percussive brilliance. Guitars, bass, synths, marimbas and other aural paraphernalia weave in and out of the mix; each song becomes a miasma of acoustic delights. Covering the breadth of their acrobatic oeuvre, the Chicago five-piece create an organic whole from highly intricate melodies, progressions and interludes, like an 18th century timepiece. Songs like Glass Museum, Salt The Skies and Monica are effortless in their fusion of jazz, funk, progressive rock and post-rock, and the innate chemistry between the five members is awe-inspiring, lightning-in-a-bottle stuff. The fact that a stunning drum solo from Herndon can elicit smiles and nods from his bandmates is evidence of a band that are continually in wonder of the magic they wield. Guitarist Jeff Parker's grin from the side of stage is a constant throughout, the perfect compliment to the perfect show.