Live Review: Hayden James, Happiness Is Wealth

Bonython Hall is easily one of the most beautiful, opulent venues in Adelaide and until now, has been severely underutilised for live gigs. In fact, this was the first time that a national act with the profile of Hayden James has performed at the venue. Perhaps now with Momentarily, the new project for the crew behind the famous (but somewhat controversial) Royal Croquet Club, there will be far more shows here. The European cathedral-like ceiling, polished floors and amazing elevated seated areas make for a gorgeous setting for music and watching the lights play against the interiors was breathtaking.

The early DJ sets started out with more of a chill-out vibe; the crowds meandering around the space and chatting. The early sound bounced around the room wonderfully with its high ceilings and hard surfaces. The sound was tuned to the venue perfectly without the bass overdoing it. Gradually the music started to lift in intensity and as the attendance rose and more people headed towards the front, filling out the room.

Happiness Is Wealth is a project featuring Adelaidian Surahn Sidhu from The Swiss, Morals Of A Minor, and formerly part of Empire Of The Sun's touring line-up. He's gone on to collaborate as a songwriter for acts such as Usher and Kimbra and is one of few major industry success stories from Adelaide. Happiness Is Wealth live combined a range of his talents with production, house music and his fantastic vocal range. With an ethereal start, gorgeous ambient sounds, sweet bass and a combination of live and prerecorded vocals, there was a lot going on. The live wah guitars added an extra layer of variety and sonic texture. Towards the end, the set seemed to meander and the interest of punters seemed to wave. Happiness Is Wealth is an interesting project, but I think Sidhu and his collaborator are still ironing out their sense of sound and identity and it will be interesting to see what direction they end up going in.

Hayden James started on Just A Lover and right away the sound production and the lift in quality, compared to the supports, just shone out. With the great compressed synth bass tone and the fantastic effected vocals, the song was a great way to launch into the set.

Straight off the bat, the epic visuals behind Hayden James helped the main set click into gear and create a separation from the preceding entertainers, who were in the dark. This sense of differentiation, although frustrating when Happiness Is Wealth were obscured, served to lift the vibe of the whole crowd. When the live guitarist took the stage, his animated stage movements and afro added some extra live visual energy. The fabulous live singer who came on halfway through, has a phenomenal range and silky smooth delivery. He acted a bit like an MC as well as a singer, which created the key point of engagement with the crowd for most of the night, other than when Hayden James thanked the punters later in the show.

In addition to his own material, some of his mixes for other tracks went down really well. The mix for CamelPhat song Cola was amazing, while the remix of Say My Name by Odesza was a high point of the night. Of his own songs, Something About You had some great vibes while Permission To Love was predictably very well received. Just Friends was met with a highly favourable reaction with the crowd very animated. The singer really brought the crowd along during the track and helped push the song along. The night finished on the gorgeous Numb, which was the highlight of the night. With the number of people on shoulders and the revelry all around, it’s fair to say we should see some more big Momentarily-run shows in the future.