Live Review: Supersense - Festival Of The Ecstatic

Saturday 

The audience Supersense - Festival Of The Ecstatic attracts is one of a kind and we wonder where these people hide when not at this festival. There are lots of quirky waxed moustaches, one-of-a-kind home haircuts and customised dungarees. Wandering through entrances that are normally closed off to the public is a delightful part of Supersense and, as such, we exit Arts Centre Melbourne and head down a stairwell in the forecourt, through endless corridors and eventually find ourselves on State Theatre's actual stage. We receive multiple warnings about "frequent and strong strobe lighting and haze" en route to Dream Machine. Then some first aid supplies are wheeled down into the front section. 

All audience members sit on the floor preparing to close their eyes when the promised strobes kick in. Dubbed "the world's first work of art you look at with your eyes closed", this world premiere Supersense commission aims to conjure "hallucinatory experience through the use of immersive flicker light". We are lured into a somnambulist soundtrack featuring Zeena Parkins' masterful harp playing while this festival's curator, Sophia Brous, supplies vocal sounds (no words that we can discern). We don't hallucinate and wonder whether, like hypnotherapy, some people just can't seem to manage to fall under the spell, so decide to make a break for it and head through more labyrinthine corridors toward Fairfax Theatre for Stephen O'Malley. Some sneaky sound design makes us look around trying to identify the source when the sound of water droplets oozes from hidden speakers in enclosed carpeted areas.  

Supersense is unique in that you can feel free to wander in and out of these theatres to sample a little or a lot of the various performances on offer, as desired. In fact, you're encouraged to do so. While waiting outside Fairfax Theatre, O'Malley's guitar drone sounds ominous; a few audience members rush from the auditorium holding fingers in ears. An usher then appears to show us to remaining available seats. One of the founding members of Sunn O))), O'Malley's experiments with frequency and volume see him working mainly in darkness, as shadowy visuals — some evoking a sandstorm — cut through. While listening to O'Malley's guitar rumble, one enters a meditative state. Forgotten memories float to the surface, unfulfilled hopes and dreams flit through our consciousness and we're free to indulge in and sort through these thoughts. The set flies by and all sit in silence, completely captivated. The volume is just right and we find subtle melodies within what initially seems like a one-note drone. An immersive experience that taps into the subconscious, this scribe thoroughly recommends you seek out O'Malley in this guise.

There's no scheduled entertainment for an hour or so, which allows for a dinner break before the world premiere of Lullaby Movement. "A sleepless girl lies on a pebble beach on the edge of the universe…" is all the information we have going into this piece. Although we are reminded upon entering Fairfax Theatre that we may come and go as we please, there's little movement in the auditorium. Brous presents a song cycle exploring lullaby ritual, singing in more than 25 languages (none of which are English) as revered multi-instrumentalists David Coulter and Leo Abrahams supply textural sonic beds. The stage is bare except for a glittery black boulder that Brous wanders around or sometimes perches on.  

Brous performs as if sleepwalking, her delicate gestures breathing life into each lullaby with movement carefully sourced and markedly different for each cradle song. It's mesmeric, but no one snoozes in their seat. What a vehicle to showcase the unique talent of Brous! She glides across the stage in a white nightgown, ethereal; we suspect Brous is an apparition that will disappear if we blink. It's impossible to imagine any other vocalist in this role and wild applause plus a standing ovation (from some) signifies this project's success.

Sunday

The alternative use of space theme that runs through Overground - A Festival Within A Festival certainly adds excitement, but can also be challenging acoustically. Moving from State Theatre Rehearsal Room (where Jim Denley, Maria Moles and James Rushford create a sonic fusion that culminates in what sounds like water and wind striking inanimate objects) to Fairfax Foyer (where Rainbow Chan, David Chesworth and Tarquin Manek wrestle more aggressively with sound, until Chesworth sorts out his mic issues and then repeatedly announces, "I feel a song coming on"), we applaud the bravery of Brous in programming four-and-a-half hours of exploratory improvised music. In Playhouse Stalls Foyer, Sophia Brous (showcasing her talents in various ways throughout this year's Supersense) collaborates with Oliver Coates, Zeena Parkins and Clayton Thomas. Their excursions in sound allow each instrument time to shine and we hear a characteristic thud when one of Parkins' cello strings snaps under great tension. It's exciting to witness such spontaneous and exclusive musical explorations, but Overground certainly isn't for everyone.            

Over in Hamer Hall, we take our seats for the world premiere of Spiritualized with Australian Art Orchestra and The Consort Of Melbourne. The vocal group, orchestra and band all file on and when Jason Pierce (aka J Spaceman) strides out, resplendent in silver trainers and wearing sunglasses, a roar goes up. We soon realise there's some drunken yobbos in the house who persist in yelling out "Jay-son", or "You're an angel, Jay-son," despite Pierce's consistent nonchalance.    

They open with If I Were With Her Now and we settle into our seats, fully aware that we're set to experience a show we'll wax lyrical about for years to come. The subtlety of The Consort Of Melbourne's harmonies never threaten to swamp Pierce's artful lyricism and Australian Art Orchestra's brass blasts recreate this song as we believe it is always meant to be heard.    

When the voice-over introduces "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space", it's collective swooning. Watching drummer Kevin Bayles and percussionist Tom Edwards work so attentively and sharing visual cues inspires awe and Edwards utilises an impressive the variety of instruments to faithfully recreate every percussive nuance. All three groups involved in tonight's collaborative project ebb and flow, and jam out and rein it back in on a dime, as if they were born knowing these songs. Cop Shoot Cop… clasps us firmly in its grasp for the entirety of this song's 17-plus minutes and their snap-back from crescendo to bare bones is rewarded by our enraptured cheers. Pierce's heartfelt, often harrowing lyrical phrases ("There's a hole in my arm where all the money goes") still rise to the surface within these orchestral arrangements (although let's not forget Spiritualized's Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space album features guest appearances from Balanescu Quartet, The London Community Gospel Choir and Dr John so these live versions sometimes stay pretty true to their recorded counterparts). So Long You Pretty Thing is one hard-to-beat set closer ("If you feel lone-ly/And the world's against you/Take the long way home/Past the scary Jesus…"), but we can't let Pierce and co go just yet and demand an encore.

The various ensembles return to their instrument stations on stage and Pierce waves madly at the crowd, with both hands, to express his appreciation. The Consort Of Melbourne morph into a gospel choir for Oh Happy Day and all faith is restored. Pierce then waits patiently stage right while members of Australian Art Orchestra's string section step down and leave the stage — orchestra first. There must be nothing quite like hearing your songs performed live in this way and Pierce looks genuinely chuffed.