Live Music: Midnight Juggernauts @ Hifi Brisbane
Words: Clare Kempnich/Kate Scantleton
Pictures: Kate Scantleton
Wow.
I think that was the only word I could muster after seeing Midnight Juggernauts‘ performance (Friday, August 21 at the Hi-Fi). I generally err on the side of caution when it comes to seeing electronic/dance acts as I worry about a band’s ability to replicate this kind of music on stage – but after this performance I am truly kicking myself for having passed up opportunities to see the Juggers in the past.
As soon as singer Vincent Vendetta entered the stage donning a velvet, star-adorned wizard’s cape I just knew this was going to be a gig to remember. I (along with a sizeable portion of the Australian public) was a huge fan of the band’s original release album Dystopia as, at the time, as the sounds were so original; a new take on electronic music. Their latest work The Crystal Axis falls slightly short of their last success – what was new and exciting from their last album is now a bit tired and overdone on this release.
That being said, the band did a fantastic job of blending the new with the old playing a good portion of their later works to keep the crowd entertained. For me, the standout song of the night was ‘Tombstone’ – a wildly popular song, which was performed perfectly on stage. Much credit must be given to the three-piece (Vincent Vendetta, Andrew Szekeres and Daniel Stricker) for perfectly recreating their songs on stage. Watching this genre of music live often means seeing instrument-less band members fawn about on a stage equipped with only their Macbook and an amp through which their songs are played, but Midnight Juggernauts were quite the opposite. The same kind of music, but with real guitars, a real keyboard and real tambourines!
With a stellar lineup on supports including Dappled Cities, who were mighty fine-sounding, filled with a child-like energy, and the much more quirky Kirin J Callinan who managed to put on quite a display during the Juggers’ finale tune, Into The Galaxy, where in true Blink 182 fashion he stripped off his pants and jacket, and proceeded to ballet-prance around the stage with a tamborine, this most certainly was a stand-out gig of 2010 to date. I’m looking forward to checking out the Juggers next time they’re in town again.