Re:Enactment / Hunz / Toy Balloon / Goodbye Gravity / Moonjog, The Troubadour, 18th September

So, I really won’t lie when I write this: I’d never heard of three out of the five bands on show tonight, and I only knew of one because I’m friends with a member.  So heading out to a completely new venue with three completely new bands, and a couple that I’d heard of but never seen, was bit daunting, especially with the perceived running time of around 6 ½ hours.  I was wrong to think this: it was worth every second.

First up were Moonjog.  Their bassist, known by the name of Rhett, was sporting something of an epic beard, and it was hard to take my eyes off it to actually concentrate on the music.  When I finally performed this superhuman task, I was greeted by a wall of synth-pop and delayed guitars, reminiscent of Arcade Fire and the now-defunct LCD Soundsystem.  Wailing vocals pierced the venue as lead singer Clay howled about space, girls and many other unintelligible subjects.  With stage banter making me feel as though I’d walked into a science-fiction movie and dance moves typical of the indie-electro scene, Moonjog hinted to me that this was going to be a good night with a very solid performance.

I’d heard a good deal of praise and rumour about second band Toy Balloon.  I heard one guy mention that they “light up the stage – literally”, to which I chuckled.  But after setting up what looked like a trestle table filled with electronic equipment, I realized what he’d meant – the band really did light it up.  The drummer had glowing drumsticks, and the man behind the electronics (given the first name basis on which their Myspace is based, I’ll refer to him as Cooper) had wrapped himself in tree-lights.  But that was nothing compared to their sound.  The intricate and layered sounds that emerged from the stage were simply breathtaking: pounding bass drum, soaring, uplifting melodies and loop-upon-loop of synth sounds made it something of a surreal experience, with band members trading places, bounding around the stage and, above all, looking as though they were having fun.  My only criticism would be that songs tended to sound like extended jam sessions, but when you’re making music this good, you can’t really complain about that.  Believe the hype: Toy Balloon were astonishing.

Next up were Hunz.  A small crowd had gathered at the bass of the stage, and with the screaming of some of the crowd members down the front, I had a feeling this was going to be a pretty decent display.  The incredibly polished sounds of electronic music that trickled out of the speakers was nothing short of brilliant.  With heavy drums and backing bass, the eponymous lead singer was absolutely mesmerizing as he pranced and thrashed about behind his keyboard, delivering vocals that were both powerful in their depth and yet intricate in their falsetto parts.  You could tell that the live experience was what Hunz is all about: the band flourished in this environment, lapping up every little bit of the crowd’s energetic mood and throwing it straight back at them. At times, songs began to sound a little bit same-y, but I suppose you can never have too much of a good thing, so I guess I could only class this as a minor annoyance.

By now, the small Troubadour was very full, and anticipation was building for the headliners of the night, Re: Enactment, who were launching their EP Talent for Retail that night.  To be brutally honest, their sound seemed much hollower than their predecessors, almost like something was missing.  It was no matter though, as the band tore the stage apart.  Their keyboardist was constantly dragging his keyboard across the stage and always attempting to get the audience up, and he did: the band got the audience going better than any other band that night.  The sound was something like a grunge band got hit by a truck full of keyboards, and these layered melodies had the crowd’s number, and through various back-up singer changes and percussional swaps, I could see why these guys are constantly headlining: their stage show is something to be beheld.  Working their way past stage invaders and missing equipment, the band proved to me that they were worth remembering: this was a kind of music I’d never seen before, and it was a beauty to behold.  I have to say though: if your fans adore you this much, by about the 6^th time you’ve begged for a capo, you’d expect anyone who had one to have relinquished it by then.

Reading the bill, I was really quite confused by the set-up: what kind of promoter puts a supporting band on AFTER the headlining band?  I then realized: the acoustic drumkit that had adorned the stage was making way for the electronic kit belonging to Goodbye Gravity.  I then noticed the time.  Judging by the way the band members were constantly looking aggravated and making flailing gestures, I figured that they were having rock-diva moments, and with some of the hype behind them, that wouldn’t have surprised me.  Then I heard their instruments: they sounded dreadful.  Something was obviously wrong, and as what little crowd was left began to get more and more impatient, things didn’t seem to get better. After an extended wait, the band finally took to the stage with recalibrated everything, and went at it with full force, delivering instrumental psychedelic jam sessions that made the night go quickly… That is, until the guitar broke.  Having found a replacement, the band left off as if nothing had happened, and rocked the now somewhat barren Troubadour for the last time of the night.  Synthesist Dane Alexander’s dreadlocks flew as he jumped, danced and played his way through a number of tracks that, I must say, made them my favourite act of the night.  Some bands can prove Murphy’s Law, and Goodbye Gravity is no exception.  But, at the end of the day, they put on a damn good show.

Alessandro Oliveira