Illy The Cinematic Tour - The Hi-Fi Melbourne 8 March 2014

I'm not exactly an avid live music attendee. There's a handful of artists that I like that are current and tour regularly enough for me to (potentially) go to a gig of theirs.

Even back in my teens there weren't a huge amount of live gigs that I went to, not compared to my peers who seemed to go to some every weekend.

In the past few years I've been to various Bliss n Eso and Hilltop Hoods tours gigs. They've been the only artists I've felt strongly enough about to attend.

They've been at Festival Hall and one at...I want to say the Atheneum, but a search has revealed it to me as the Palace Theatre, all I remember of that night is the queue going around the corner from the gig and wooden floors at the location. Plus maybe red leather.

This isn't because I was drinking or anything like that, just it wasn't something I thought about committing to memory so it's not in there.

Seeing Illy on Saturday night I felt something I'd not felt for a while at a gig. I don't really know what it was.

I could be vague and say a 'connection’, I’m slightly annoyed with myself at not being able to define it more so than that.

But it was....the crowd was very positive and while the crowd at Bliss n Eso's gigs have been enthusiastic and positive I have on occasion, not felt fear, but had my danger response perk up a little bit.

Maybe it's because Festival Hall is gigantic compared to the Hi-Fi.

There is something about a smaller venue, that makes it feel...different.

Festival Hall used to be where boxing matches were held.

While the Hi-Fi is two bars and two levels with a stage on the lower level. According to their website it was originally a Newsreel cinema in World War II. According to their site it’s recently been renovated (I’ve not been to the Hi-Fi before so can’t make a judgment on what it used to be).

It’s got a mezzanine level and a ballroom level, which is where the gig was held.

Looking at the photos on their site when the ballroom level is set up as a ballroom / function room it’s quite classy.

In the darkness and light of a gig it’s more intimate.

The renovations that have been still look fresh and nice. It’s not a venue where I felt at all tense in.

Behind the mixing desk

I've heard on various comedy podcasts that what makes for a good venue is a low ceiling and (something) stage, I don’t quite recall what sort of stage is good for a comedy gig. Probably not one too high up, but one that’s still elevated enough to separate the performer from the audience.

But the point I’m trying to get to is the Hi-Fi is well set up to make the performance good.

I wasn't right in the front of the crowd right in front of the stage, I was stood at the back behind the mixing desk. Which I used to do when I used to see a few live gigs here and there. This position usually affords a good view and something to lean against. Though on Saturday it just meant a good place to see the stage from.

Something I did find notable is that there was crowd surfing / moshing in the crowd.

This was also the first time at a hip hop gig that I felt the urge to want to participate with the audience, rather than just hanging back and passively watching. This is probably more of an insight into me than anything else, but it's not something I've felt moved, compelled or whatever to do in the past at any gigs I've been to this decade.

I've not done it in the past because I haven't felt involved, felt like I wanted to be involved, but at this gig I did, this one I felt the passion.

I wouldn't say I lack passion in my life. But seeing music I like I enjoy it, but...passion for the music I'm seeing hasn't been stirred in me for a while.

There was some not last time, but the time before that when I saw Bliss n Eso, mostly the stuff where they had a piano, in their Flying Colours tour.

Illy's show on Saturday night brought out a passion in me that I didn't thought was there.

I've not enjoyed a gig like this, in this way since the early 2000s.

Not just enjoyed it, but felt like I was part of the audience in this way rather than just being a member of the audience or just a person with a group of people together watching something.

Now onto the performance itself.

Illy had on stage with him Cam Bluff (DJ) and Ben Ellingworth (Drums). Ellingworth worked as hard as Illy throughout the night.

It was mostly all the songs from Illy’s Cinematic album, although there were a few songs from previous albums; ‘Diamonds ft Wren’ from

The Chase and ‘Heard It All’ from Bring it Back.

There were 3 final songs in the ‘encore’ portion of the show with the final being the titular song of the album. The show ended with a confetti canon.

During ‘Tightrope’ Illy was particularly energetic. A ball of energy bounding around the stage.

Throughout it Illy seemed to have some issues / annoyance with his ear piece, he had in in at the start of the songs and then pulled it out half way through or didn’t have it in and then slipped it back in as he began a song.

This was the first gig in a long while that made me feel younger than I was and more in touch with the artist. Which possibly could mean I’m now getting older.

It was I think telling that that there was a call out by Jackie Onassis to people born in the 80s, which got a small cheer and then a call out to people born in the 90s which got a much bigger cheer. Great way to make me feel old guys.

Ear worms and Mashups

I’ve got a hypothesis about the ‘ear worm’ idea of music getting stuck in your head.

If it’s a song that you’re familiar with, but not a fan of it’s going to get stuck in your head easier than a song you’re a fan of.

If it’s a song you’re a fan of you know it really well, you know the lyrics, the rhythm, you know what it sounds like. You’ve heard it many times before. So it’s in your memory and it’s something you don’t need to actively engage any bits of your brain to really think about.

These ‘ear worm’ songs aren’t that. You’re familiar with them, but not a fan, when you hear them you’ve got to engage your brain a little bit, you might have heard the song many times in passing so it triggers a memory. But it’s not something you’ve heard enough times for it to become ingrained in your memories, it’s not a pleasurable song for you to listen to. That’s why it’s an ‘ear worm’ song, because you don’t like it, yet it still lodges in your memory by making you engage with it more so than something you like.

Extending on this hypothesis I would postulate this is why so many people like mashups, remixes and DJ sets of songs. Because it takes these familiar songs, both those we’re fans of and those we’re not and remixes, reinterprets them into something else. There’s enough of a remnant of the song there to still trigger recognition in our minds of it, but it’s been reframed so it’s not as much of a ‘ear worm’ as its original. It gives us a chance to reframe, rethink and reconsider this song once more.

Bliss n Eso - House of Dreams Tour 2013

Festival Hall - 6th June 2013

The last time I saw Bliss n Eso at Festival Hall I had a seat in the Balcony area, though I didn’t manage to get a seat in that area this time around, which is a pity.
I think it’s one of the best places in Festival Hall; right in the middle a good view of the stage and in the centre of the speakers.
You also get a seat, which is a plus.
Of course, to be stood in the front of the stage with all the other people would be wondrous...or not.
I’m mostly in the or ‘not category’.

This time around I had a choice between the unlicensed area which was the Floor / standing area or the unlicensed area where there’s no alcohol to be served, though is all seated.
I’ve had a ticket and sat in the unlicensed area before because I didn’t want to drink and didn’t want to stand, but the angle and distance from the stage is not brilliant. Also being seated amongst the under-18s (and their parents) is not something I particularly enjoyed.

This time I was on the floor although where I was standing didn't afford more more of a view than if I had sat really with the unlicensed peoples.
I found a place, diagonal from stage left and pretty much remained there as I could lean against one of the barriers and could see the stage, more of less.

Pez's set was a  good although the sound sounded like it needed balancing a little more, a lot of distortion in places that there shouldn’t have been.

Of the artists on the tour one whom I wasn’t there for was YelaWolf, I’m not a fan. Although his set was something of an experience, it didn’t make me a fan. The experience was of bass that was so very deep, long and low that it almost felt as though I could see the bass.
I can appreciate some things on a creative level, but YelaWolf’s timbre / formant had an edge to it that I found somewhat harsh.
While it wasn’t for me, the audience were particularly enthused by his performance.

Although, I'm not sure if it was warm enough in Festival Hall to require him to strip off his t-shirt half way through his set, with the doors 4 and 5 ajar letting the cold Melbourne night air into Festival Hall you could certainly feel the below 9 degree night air coming into the building.
Maybe that's why after 1-2 songs he put his shirt/vest back on.

Seeing Bliss n Eso is always a passioned experience by Bliss, Eso, DJ Izm and the audience, Saturday night was no different. A great mix of old songs and new songs, and as with previous shows good use of the big screen behind them for video and lyrical typography.
There were some of their new songs off of Circus in the Sky. I was (only a little bit) disappointed that they didn’t have any instruments on with them. In 2011 they had a piano on for a few songs and it made for an almost etherial experience through the intro and into the song. That was on their Running on Air tour and it can be seen on their live DVD.
Although with so many more instruments on Circus in the Sky it would be hard to choose which instrument/s to have along for the ride, but a flute or a violin or string quartet would have made it extra special. Although touring around the country with any of them would probably have made the tickets a bit more pricey than they were ($60).

Being on the floor did let me experience more people. One guy wearing a horse head mask. Which seemed great as an idea but was either or probably both hot and hard to see out of as he had it on for 20 seconds or so and then took it off.

The couple who were leaning against the barrier next to me, who were younger than I was 19-20, and were as enthused about YelaWolf as I was (not remotely), and also somewhat subdued about Bliss n Eso, watching but not really engaging in the whole arm waving sorta thing. Much the same as I wasn't either; my arms get tired. Also, where I and they were was far enough from the main crowd not to be caught in its enthusiasm.

Which does make it sound like I’m a bit of a downer. I enjoy their music and the live experience. I think that we all enjoy these experiences differently and as much as the crowd right in front of the stage has its appeal, to be within metres of the stage or water throwing distance (as YelaWolf did at the end of his set). Though this isn’t for me, getting up and sweaty with the crowd right in front of the stage is not how I want to enjoy myself at this sort of music gig, when I can just as much enjoy it from a moderate distance.

Eurovision 2013 Malmö

I watched (and tweeted along with) the SBS broadcast of the Eurovision semi-finals and the final of Eurovision 2013 from Malmö, Sweden. There were two songs / groups that I really liked.


But first, some observations;

• Dubstep was very much something present in most of the songs. Even in Cezar’s pop-opera number “It’s My Life” it was present.
• Ballads. Ugh. Eurovision is when the weird, strange and odd performances should come out and a lot of these ballads were just boring ballads with some flames, fire and glitter.
• Drums. Lots of these. The winner Denmark’s “Only Tear Drops” had lots of drums, as did Ireland’s “Only Love Survives”, there were more than these two, even more so in the semi-finals.

The semi-finals were much more interesting to watch than the grand final. The semi-final was where the odd acts turned up and they weren’t voted through to the grand final.
Only the boring ballads made it through, with a few exceptions. The Greek “Alcohol is Free” ska-ish song made it through. These guys were a little out of the ordinary, though not exactly Lordi.

My favourites out of the semi-finals and Eurovision Malmö 2013 as a whole were Who See from Montenegro with “Igranka” and PeR from Latvia with “Here We Go”.

“Here We Go” was a pop band styled song, it was in English. The leads were both in the most sparkly jackets, one in purplely silver and another in black. The primary lead who was wearing the silver sparkly jacket also wasn’t wearing anything else underneath and the only the top button buttoned up. He claimed to be the first person in Eurovision to stage dive. PeR also had an iPad guitar. Which is a great use of tech in a song. It’s only after watching their official video (all the acts have an ‘official video’ and also their performance - both are on Eurovision’s YouTube channel) that I understand its intention. The iPad is the drum kit, except during their actual performance it’s in a guitar shaped holder. Which is interesting. They also had a keytar. Also of note between the official video and their Eurovision performance the band went from 3 members to 4. With the secondary lead guy (who was playing the iPad drums in the official video) now being the secondary lead vocalist.
What I like about PeR is that they seemed to be really trying to have a good time, and get everyone else into it. At one point the lead singer says “Let’s forget about the contest, and let’s all feel like we’re at a live festival.” and then tries some audience interaction stuff like ‘make some noise’, ‘say woo!’, ‘now scream!’.
They also had some dubstep in their song, mixed in with (faked) slow motion. Watching (again) the official original clip for this song the dubstep in there seemed to give the secondary lead vocalist a chance to beatbox. It’s not all that clear that he’s doing that in the clip, but in one of the SBS interviews (done between songs) he does show off some beatboxing.
In their actual performance it shows a nice piece of theatre with the strobe lighting and their attempt at slow motion the dubstep adds to the performance.
These guys should have got beyond the semi-final because they were not taking it too seriously. Although interestingly they have attempted to represent Latvia in Eurvision 3 different times.

Who See’s “Igranka” is just odd, it was a rap with dubstep featured two astronauts and a cybernetic lady and also a lot of very heavy dubstep in the middle. It was unlike anything else in Eurovision. I can only assume they were rapping/singing in Montenegrin or possibly Serbian. It sounds Slavic.
The camera work really helped this song, there were a lot of crash zooms, dutch angles and some other odd squashing effects on the image.
I think Who See’s “Igranka” was the most unique of Eurovision 2013 Malmö. It exposed viewers to a different type of music, a style that wasn’t heard again at all throughout Eurovision this year.
Looking at their official film clip is an also odd, though it has been well produced and directed. Unlike PeR’s which appears to be their performance in front of a crowd to get on Eurovision.
The clip for “Igranka” has a lot of ideas in it including; bouncy breasted ladies, guys in NBC suits carrying ominous cases with what looks like drills in them, a party with everyone in weird costumes with masks on, ninjas, a boxing fight between scantily clad women wearing welding goggles and sweaty men using angle grinders.
I think “Igranka” should have won Eurovision, or at the very least gotten through to the finals. This was like Lordi; unique and different, borderline strange and very Eurovision.