Live Review: Electric Guest, Yes You

It's obvious from a fleeting glance that the crowd in attendance at the OAF are, for the most part, the core demographic of triple j listeners. So much so that the audience is almost as receptive and just as large for the opening act, Brisbane's Yes You, who have received a flogging on the station in the last 12 months or so. Their set is ridiculously slick and despite the fact that they're obviously doing it very live it's so close to the recordings that you could be convinced you're listening to singers with a backing track. The band seem like Con-trained musicians with the two core band members and the drummer jumping between instruments without any inkling it's not their full-time slot. The crowd gets a bit excited for the single, Half Of It, but the real surprise comes when the female keyboard player fronts a song with electronic drums while the others goof around. It's an amazing track, and the loose nature of the playing and the vocals elevate it far, far above anything else on offer tonight.

Even though it's very early into the career of Electric Guest as a band, vocalist Asa Taccone has been working on these songs for a long time, under the guidance of the brilliant producer Danger Mouse with whom he has been friends for many years. The songs are so thoroughly over-crafted and rehearsed that once again it feels like watching a professional cover band or worse. The production flourishes that give the album a sense of timelessness are nowhere to be seen when the band is stripped back into live mode. It must be acknowledged that Taconne has not had a lot of time to hone his stage presence, but he starts out awkwardly and unfortunately as he gets more comfortable he starts to take on the personality of a TV Idol performer, to the point where the penny drops and it seems like he should be on Glee. Harsh? For sure, but while there is no doubting his prowess as a songwriter, with some killer pop tunes such as This Head I Hold, Under The Gun and most of the Mondo album sporting some great stuff flecked with remnants of pop music's lush history, the live experience of watching Electric Guest is a horrifying let down.