Earlier in the year Seekae blew the roof off Woodland during their sold out +DOME tour, winning over endless fans and gathering a reputation that has taken them all around the world leaving critical acclaim in their footsteps. Now, back in Australia they are set to delight before once again jet setting off to Europe and Japan as a part of their conquest in becoming the Rolling Stones of experimental electro-pop.
First up tonight is Anonymeye, also known as Andrew Tuttle. He plays experimental country in the utmost sense of the label, with acoustic guitars and banjos being the choice instruments, being run through endless amounts of effects and digital modifications to create a truly unique sound. The crowd may be slightly lacking, but Tuttle’s sound makes him a perfect billing with Seekae. An early highlight of the evening, with Tuttle's unique approach to his instruments making the set an interesting experience.
On paper it is an odd billing, but The Laurels proved to be an unpredictable highlight of tonight’s affairs. The four piece absolutely killed their set, coming across as a young modern day Sonic Youth mixed with some of the better elements of shoe gaze greats, My Bloody Valentine. The double pronged guitar attack lead by, Piers Cornelius and Luke O'Farrell was a sight to behold, as the effects pedals that covered the most of the stage were pushed to their limits throughout the set. As with Anonymeye earlier, they had a slightly hindered crowd with an odd semi-circle being an unspoken dividing barrier between crowd and band. However, as the night went on the audience crept closer and closer to the stage with appreciation of the raw energy that the band was delivering. While being entertaining to watch, the band were also tight, with chick drummer Kate Wilson being a huge driving force as the fuzzed out noise clicked in perfect sync with her interesting grooves. This show was an example of a band that is going to go far in their career, with tonight’s performance showing that they could have easily headlined.
MacBooks and mixing desks promptly replace The Laurels guitars and amps, and as the crowd grows, so does their anticipation for Seekae to take to the stage. Seekae’s last visit to Brisbane proved to be one of the highlights of the year as they played in perfect harmony, blowing the roof of Woodland and left the stage as titans of the electronic arena. Unfortunately, this time was far more of a mixed affair as the band struggled with technical issues, lack of synchrony and overall exhaustion from a hard years worth of touring. They play an even set between first album, The Sound of Trees Falling on People and +DOME. Early within their set they failed to sync up with each other and technical issues plague the performance with samples seeming out of place and other instruments being barely audible. An example of where they fell short was Minigus, with samples although being in time, feeling out of place, as well as the ascending synthesiser that made the track being completely inaudible and perhaps, not even present. The track was also played at a slower tempo and you could see frustration in the eyes of the band. They do pick up slightly with following track and crowd pleaser Void, but still fall short in a number of ways.
When Alex Cameron starts playing a live drum kit the band gain a bit of momentum with the rim-shot clicking Gnor being a bass delight and an unavoidable hip-shaking pleasure. John Hassel abandons the synth for Reset Head as the wall of reverb and chorus resonates through the floor boards as the track progresses. Blood Bank also sees confusion amongst the band and hesitation seems to be universal through the sound desk to the stage. However, the track does eventually fill out and earlier inconsistencies definitely become a thing of the past with the tracks vocal sample, strong beat and gloomy synth take over.
When the bearded sampler/melodica player George Nicholas announces that the next four songs would be 'hip hop' the set picked up and showed the band working together and enjoying their craft once more. It was within this collection of Sounds of Trees tracks that +DOME's title track proved to be the most intricate and impressive moment of the night with the band really clicking, showcasing this atmospherically ascending track.
With a chant starting up and people hoping for an encore, confusion seems to be universal as some leave the venue and the band then re-emerge for a couple of oldies which prove to be the highlight of the show as the 8-bit glitch Mario punk of Snax, tease and enthral the senses as beeps and bops shoot into every corner of The Zoo. An influx of people storm the front to try and get a glimpse of what the band was doing as the track wraps up. They leave the stage to a content round of applause.
Tonight did not reach the dizzying heights which made their last visit such a success and the higher ticket price seems questionable as production values did not increase and if anything fell short. Seekae’s performance, although not a career highlight, was still an overall positive experience, as the songs the band have behind them are undeniably some of the best work coming out of the country and which on their own are definitely a good enough reason to check the band out in the live arena.
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