Grouplove and Mikhael Paskalev at the Metro Theatre 26/7/14 - Live Review
- genevavalek
- Aug 7, 2014
- 2 min read
Despite being smack bang in the middle of winter, 2014’s Splendour in the Grass has brought to Australia much of the kind of indie dance-pop that epitomises your textbook summer festival. Hailing from California, it is needless to say that Grouplove positively oozes said sun-drenched good vibes. The six-piece stopped by the Metro Theatre the night before their Splendour slot, having returned down under for the second time this year – the first being in January for Big Day Out, during which frontman Christian Zucconi tonight confessed they played the best show of their careers at the very same venue. The crowd’s disposition was certainly not reflective of the bitter weather outside.
Grouplove were joined tonight by devastatingly charming Norwegian indie songster Mikhael Paskalev. He and his band, accoutred in quirky ensembles of vintage denim and complete with facial hair and lush heads of curly locks, bore resemblance to the cast of That ‘70s Show, yet filled the stage with a youthful energy which felt quintessentially European.
It’s one thing for an indie artist to have sold out tours on the opposite side of the planet and leave audiences enamoured by your scarcely heard tunes, but to see a room packed in early for your support slot only months later and fervently belting out the words to half of your set must have been quite the windfall for young Paskalev. Awkward in his stage banter yet intrinsically captivating in his performance, Paskalev brought what could only be described as the antithesis of the tiresome nobody-act which is so often booked as support for a venue of this scale.
The moment of limbo when the interval tunes abruptly end and the lights are killed was greeted tonight with a collective applause so loud the roof might’ve come down. Grouplove cavorted onto the stage and exploded into ‘I’m With You’ with ecstatic, unassailable energy, thrusting the crowd into a fixated frenzy. Zucconi has barely stood a minute on the stage before he launches himself from it and into the incessantly surging pit, rising and falling like the swell of Sydney Harbour he sings of in ‘Raspberry’: “I was feeling kinda seasick on that boat.” Having once again found his footing, Zucconi tells us of the magic this city possesses, relating the experience of returning here to that of visiting an old friend. We certainly feel the same way of Grouplove.
A momentary lull toward the set’s end was evoked by the aptly named ‘Slow’ – the lights dimmed to black as drummer Ryan Rabin wielded glowing drumsticks of blue LED. Guided by Rabin, the band pulsed as a single entity in a transfixing display of their astounding live chemistry.
Although simple in its guise, the music of Grouplove invites a certain impalpable nostalgia with its renderings of nonexistent summers past. The band’s burning love is obvious – for their work, for us and, most markedly, for one another. It is irrefutable that the live performance of Grouplove brings an unparalleled exuberance which is confidently infectious.
Review by Jaimee Cachia
Photos by Cameron Cook view more here
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