Architecture In Helsinki,Oscar & Martin @ The Tivoli,Brisbane (25/09/11)

Thu 29th Sep, 2011 in Gig Reviews

At their last Australian tour date before jetting overseas for an extensive jaunt across Europe and the US, Architecture In Helsinki are primed to give a crowded Tivoli one hell of a live show. A truly engaging live show is something that is often elusive to electronic/ dance music acts but that is exactly what the band deliver.

Support duo Oscar & Martin take to the stage armed with drum machine, guitar and synth. They amble through a set of minimalistic pop that is at times overshadowed by the noises of a talking crowd. The absence of live drumming is really quite noticeable to the point where punters at the bar could be mistaken into believing they were still listening to the in-between-sets background music. The introduction of some live floor tom makes most people take some notice but as a whole the glitchy and sparse pop unfortunately falls on mostly deaf ears.

Architecture In Helsinki clearly have the crowd more excited as they enter the stage and waste no time sending the room into an uninhibited dancing frenzy. Minutes into the set and Hold Music has the band reciprocating the unrestrained movements of the crowd. Keyboardist Gus Franklin in particular cuts some of the most inventive and supremely entertaining shapes ever to grace a stage.

Another early hit is dropped in That Beat and comes complete with synchronised dance moves from the entire band, much to the delight of the crowd. It is clear the band is enjoying themselves and throughout the set the crowd let them know that feeling is indeed mutual. Latest single Escapee receives a huge response and is a sign of just how well received their latest album has been. This is not a band leaning on a back catalogue of hits, as impressive as it may be.

The band closes their set with the massive Heart It Races inducing perhaps the loudest sing along of the night and after a short break return for a well deserved encore. The encore starts with an old treat for the diehard fans before ending with the crowd pleasing Contact High. A sea of bodies dance their way through the final song before sending the band off in a very vocal way.

If only one thing is clear from tonight it’s this: it is physically impossible to not dance to Architecture In Helsinki.