M83, The Dø @ The Zoo,Brisbane, (31/03/2009)

Thu 2nd Apr, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Check out all the photos from the show here on FL.

Brisbane might have not got a significant number of major V Festival sideshows, but we’re still lucky we got The Kills the night before – and tonight’s all-French double bill is about to prove we’ve been DOUBLE lucky. Initially taking some time to assemble a space-age drum cage (replete with assorted hanging utensils including oven trays and saucepans), Parisians The Dø set about with a much rockier, grittier sound than the somewhat innocent guitar/drum plink captured on last year’s A Mouthful album.

Vertical hairdo-sporting Olivia Merilahti is in full “rock chick” mode tonight, attacking her Stratocaster with PJ Harvey-style fervour while her Fender bass-brandishing cohort Dan Levy runs back and fro at any given opportunity. The screechy On My Shoulders, preceded by an unusual, fuzzy dirge of an intro, still stands as the band’s best song to date while the faster-paced The Bridge Is Broken and Aha also have plenty of sing/bop-along potential; rocking out with merry abandon, the drum-assisted duo bow out to a largely rapturous response.

The curiosity-invoking Perspex shield of the drum cage is moved to the left and racks of keyboards and processors are erected during the headline act’s setup, giving a direct hint at the huge sound feast to follow. Equal parts shoegaze and ambient electro, the Anthony Gonzalez-led M83 are certainly not about inventing a new genre – they even have an Australian sonic relative in Melbourne’s wonderful Mountains In The Sky – but what they do practically defies any tags: big, mature, emotional MUSIC. Armed with fan-revered material, the fourpiece take off straight into the spiralling galaxy, proving along the way exactly why Saturdays=Youth was voted the best album of 2008 by many influential music media outlets.

… And the moment the echoey synth chords fill the venue, we either stand awestruck by what we hear, mouths slack and wide, or exuberantly jump up and down and pump the air. The ever-majestic We Own The Sky scales the Everest with its swirling patterns, while the sequencer-laden Couleurs, already powerful on the record, becomes an epic dance number – let alone one graced with the most beautiful synthpop keyboards this side of Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration. Arriving early, the iridescent Graveyard Girl is the sort of a bubblegum pop song that makes you cry tears of joy – all the while grinning like a loon. The Donnie Darko-captured – œ80s teenage innocence theme running through most of the band’s videos comes to life as Kim & Jessie hits the room; sounding like a long-forgotten Tears For Fears smash, the now-signature hit amounts to pure natural high and is a true showstopper, the sprightly guitar/synth interplay and genius drum rolls (props to the band’s sticksman for his ace work) making everyone hold on to every millisecond of aural nirvana.

“Do you smoke weed? Can I have some?” the white Gibson-wielding Gonzalez wonders in reaction to the detectable fug before launching into another glacial lead break. One of Saturdays=Youth’s select capsules of sheer melodic elegance, the gorgeous Up! sadly doesn’t get aired, however we don’t mind so much because what we DO hear during the set leaves us exalted. The magisterial Skin Of The Night, augmented by keyboardist/co-vocalist Monica Kibby’s ethereal Liz Frazer-isms, makes the venue’s stuffy air feel like substrata; Highway Of Endless Dreams does a fantastic job of marrying classic New Order guitar jangle with monumental synth soundscapes without a hint of muddiness; Dark Moves Of Love is both subtly haunting and unabashedly seductive – and all the better for it. Older tracks Teen Angst and Don’t Save Us From The Flames undergo jaw-dropping transformations, the former’s transcendental vocal harmonies and the latter’s soaring “oo-wee-oo”-s (courtesy of the amazing Kibby) and MBV-like noise swells sounding positively cinematic and – ultimately – immense. Brought back by the ecstatic crowd noise, the intergalactic travellers say a profound au revoir with a beguiling, pulse-heavy encore. Being a million light years away from home has never felt this good.