Like a belated O-Week party populated by first year kids celebrating the freedom of partying on a school night, the young crowd were feverishly eager for their heroes to hit the stage. Even revealing the grandiose Midnight Juggernauts banner used as a BDO backdrop drew cheers from the crowd. But before the Juggers took to the stage for a final sold-out Melbourne show, before a year promoting their Dystopia record to the world, the crowd is treated to a set from first time tourists M83.
It seemed odd that an international act had the support slot, but apparently M83 were hand-picked by the Juggers for this role. Unfortunately for the previous night’s Sydney gig, their gear was lost in transit and they were forced to play a reduced ambient set. With the reports from that gig bemoaning the crowd’s dismissive reaction, it was a relief to see M83 take to the stage with a full line up. Though, even with a full band much of the crowd continued to babble away as the band played a set auditioning for space on the next Sofia Copella soundtrack. Sounding like My Bloody Valentine remixing New Order, the French group were unfamiliar to almost all of the sell-out crowd and played a set to road test material that will appear on their upcoming record. Their mesmerising final track relying heavily on the Kate Bush styled vocals of the group’s keyboard player is sure to be a highlight of that forthcoming record.
After a brief intro, Midnight Juggernauts began with ‘Road To Recovery’ and progressed through a fist pumping set that kept the kids happy as long as the drum beats kept hitting like an Alco pop induced hangover. Slower, moodier numbers received a lesser reaction with the crowd while the heavily play-listed ‘Shadows’ was enthusiastically received as the banner dropped. Andy and Vince switched stage positions for ‘Tombstone’ so that Andy could sing the vocoded lyrics. But, it barely seemed worth the effort as the crowd were more than eager to chant out the words for him. Their main set closed with tailor-made show closer ‘Into The Galaxy’ and left the crowd baying for more. Although the girls clambered onto shoulders for a better view of the obligatory encore, the Juggers oddly chose to close with a downbeat sombre finish that dampened the energy in the venue.
The Juggers have planned a long absence from Australian stages but for tonight’s crowd they probably couldn’t return soon enough. When they return later in the year will they be met as all conquering heroes or will their fans move on?
