Har Mar Superstar’s onstage antics last week provided some refreshingly hilarious midweek entertainment at the Prince of Wales. In town to play a post-Splendour in the Grass side show, the pint-sized Har Mar cranked out tracks from his 2004 album The Handler, and surely lived up to his reputation as a confident and consummate performer.
Midnight Juggernauts came off the back of a DJ set at the Interpol afterparty the night before to kick off the evening’s entertainment. Despite the lack of sound check they bravely served up their mixture of grinding guitars, choice beats and unique vocals to the early birds. A few kids robot danced to show their appreciation – a good sign in anyone’s language.
Next up were The Town Bikes, primed for their imminent excursion to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, whose combination of custom costumes, awesome moves and fab samples warmed up the crowd nicely. Their self-described ‘sexed up rock eisteddfod’ style is pure entertainment, explaining why the terrific twosome has been selected again by Har Mar to open his shows.
The man himself appeared onstage in saggy trousers and a white zipped jumper, noticeably (and sadly) without his filthy mullet. His cleanshaven hairdo didn’t mean anything else about Har Mar Superstar was clean though, as he pranced across the stage, punctuating his speech with “Fuck yeah, Melbourne” and ensuring a healthy peek of arse crack was hanging out at all times. The sprinkling of freshly plucked pubes onto the crowd was also a classy touch, and reassured me that my standing spot back from the stage was a good choice.
The set was tight, with live drummer Bert Thomas and bassist Tony Bevilacqua of the Distillers watching Har Mar’s strutting, gyrating and random pashing of female crowd members with bemusement. The crowd’s reaction was mixed, with long time fans singing along while pretty St Kilda boys looked stunned as the rotund, homely looking Har Mar took the full attention of the ladies in the room. No one can deny though that he presented his mixture of pop hooks, great vocals and excellent beats to a receptive crowd, grateful for a taste of pure, ego-free entertainment. Any dude who looks that rude but sings that well is welcome to visit anytime! Just look out for the pubes…
