Live Review: Cumbia Cosmonauts, Misty Nights

Sophisticated types mill about outside National Gallery of Victoria. We even spot an elegant French twist (not food, darling, the coiffed hairdo), which would undoubtedly please Jean Paul Gaultier, whose exhibition – The Fashion World Of Jean Paul Gaultier, From The Sidewalk To The Catwalk – opens late on Friday nights for its duration. If you're hungry, though, the selection of lights meals available inside The Great Hall is delicious: hello, goats cheese croquettes and antipasto plate. We eat while Misty Nights drop elegant jams with an upbeat twist from behind the decks.

Mention must be made of the outstanding seating against the wall on the way out to the toilets through The Great Hall:  Giant black leather cubes slot together so one can sprawl in a separate chair, half a couch in size, while using the two large armrests that are pushed up against each other as a table for one's quaffing pleasure. The stained glass roof is also splendiferous.

The Gaultier exhibition itself demands repeat visits. Initially my companion thinks Jean-Paul himself is present, giving an introductory speech as we wander into one of the rooms. These are Gaultier’s ‘living’ mannequins (with projections on faces) and, yes! They’re that realistic! They seriously make eye contact with art fanciers and follow our gazes across the room. How? The living mannequins are almost as exquisite and interesting as Gaultier's haute couture pieces. The punk-inspired pieces particularly pull our focus as does Anton Corbijn's photograph of Kurt Cobain modelling a Gaultier design. Including the amount of hours spent constructing each intricate masterpiece by hand is a genius touch.

Ooh, it's time to return to The Great Hall for Cumbia Cosmonauts, who have a right-side-of-loose crowd assembling before them trying to work out how to dance to these choons. There's a lady channelling an ostrich while trying to get sexy with it and definitely some Rainbow Serpent escapees. Visuals of dancing skeletons and assorted exotic imagery add to the vibe and, look! there's some uninhabited cubes. Much chair dancing with drinks poised follows. What a pleasant way to pass a Friday evening. There’s not a yobbo in sight. And guess what? We exit through the gift shop à la the Banksy film. (Pack extra coin, the Gaultier souvenirs are magnifique.)