Gotye, Tash Parker @ TheNational Theatre, Melbourne(14/01/2011)

Mon 17th Jan, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Playing for the first time in three years under his solo pseudonym Gotye, Wally De Backer stunned a sold out National Theatre audience with a kaleidoscope of intricate lights, sound, and visual projections on a warm Summer’s evening.

The seated venue in the heart of St. Kilda allowed for a very intimate performance from the ARIA winner. Taking the stage for the night’s support was local folk artist Tash Parker. No stranger to Gotye (she supported his band The Basics back in May), Parker brings a beautiful elegance to the National Theatre stage, standing on the tips of her toes as she serenaded the audience with guitar ballads and sweet smiles. Her songs are personal and poignant, and when she brings Gotye to the stage as a special guest, the two perform a duet of a song Parker has written about him, leaving the audience in awe of her talent.

When Gotye takes to the stage, he is casually dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Taking to a heavy drum set, he kicks things off with his latest single, the acclaimed Eyes Wide Open, which is coincidentally, it’s first live performance in front of an audience.

The set is itself is made up of a few new tracks, and a majority of tracks from sophomore album, Like Drawing Blood. Fan favourites Coming Back, and Hearts A Mess are early highlights, with background visuals providing a spectacle for the audience, intertwined with the light show. Two new tracks are also debuted live, Smoke and Mirrors, a B-side on Eyes Wide Open, and Bronte, a sombre number which De Backer said is about learning to move on from the pain of grief.

Declaring that he prefers to play covers over his own songs, Gotye attempts (and beautifully succeeds) a piano performance of Leonard Cohen’s Seems So Long Ago, Nancy. Further performances of soon to be released songs showcased to the audience just what is in store for the future, as well as a trip to the past with The Only Thing I Know from his debut album Boardface, accompanied by stories about Gaslight Records in Melbourne. It’s the inclusion of Thanks For Your Time, however, that truly steals the night. The interrupted segue within the song (this time involving a call from Vodaphone and being placed on hold) brings with it many laughs, and is a fantastic change of pace to the night.

With De Backer telling us he has a theory that planned encores are ‘kinda gay,’ a finale of Learnalilgivinanlovin ends the show on a high note, as the beaming man of many talents departs the stage to a well deserved standing ovation.

After three years away from the spotlight of the stage, and armed with new material that trumps his past works, Gotye is comfortably back, and seems certain to wow Australia’s music scene once more. Learnalilgivehimsomelovin’

Check out some of the beautifuly photos from the gig here