Brisbane’s The Hi-Fi delivered a truly stunning array of eclectic musicians the night Melbourne’s Midnight Juggernauts came to play. Children Collide frontman Johnny Mackay’s new heterogeneous musical side project, Fascinator, took the stage to a sparsely crowded venue and delivered one of the most interesting sets of the night.
Playing mostly from his debut EP Birth released in July of this year, Fascinator stunned an un-expecting audience with his electro psychedelic wiles. Dressed in an early Bowie-esque dress/cape donned with what was presumably his own warped version of his namesake, the singer dazed an eager audience with what was audibly music to time travel to.
Sometimes singing to the crowd, sometimes to himself and sometimes to the mannequin heads placed randomly around the stage, the Melbourne man wove tales scooped up from down the rabbit hole.
A highlight was when he brought out ‘Little Fascinator,” a tiny child that sat at the drum set and banged a beat completely without rhythm or relevance to the song. The mixture of Fascinator’s intelligent experimental tunes and the eccentric little kid having the best time was a joyous thing to behold. It was a brilliant start to the night and the punters that didn’t make it out for the first support really missed something unique.
Kirin J Callinan was almost more of a character than his predecessor. Wearing a flamboyant printed pant-shirt combination, small ‘90s sunglasses and an eccentric straw hat, Callinan was the centre of the world for the length of his set. His musical prowess was incredible, playing genres anywhere from post punk to rock ballads from outer space. This was his second time at The Hi-Fi playing alongside Midnight Juggernauts, and he brought a performance that topped the last.
He had a stage presence measuring up there with the best. His intelligent musicianship was rivalled only by the intense energy he brought to every number; he was sheer spunk with the skills to match.
One of the many highlights of his set was when a drunken punter started heckling obnoxiously at him. With the help of a loyal crowd Callinan shut him down completely, droning boreingly into the microphone “I’m sure you’re very handsome” along with some other choice remarks.
Although he was the the middle act, Callinan managed to make an appearance in every set of the night. Playing with his matrix clad band he accompanied Fascinator for a few songs, and every once in a while walked out on stage whilst Midnight Juggernauts were playing, wearing an army cap and carrying a bottle of wine and a mannequin in each hand, a large cigarette in his mouth.
It seemed the crowd were not sure what to make of him but one thing inherent was the feeling of a memory being sunk so far into the mind the night would be impossible to forget.
Finally the lights dimmed and the crowd moved eagerly to the front. Midnight Juggernauts entered the stage wearing matching kimonos and dove straight into to ‘Shadows.’ Their third album Uncanny Valley has displayed their prowess as the veterans of the night with complex sounds and a natural groove.
‘Memorium’ was a hit with the audience, as was the front men’s random departure half way through the set, only to return in matching military uniforms.
‘Into The Galaxy’ was incredibly received by the crowd, not one person in the venue standing completely still. Midnight Juggernauts have that effect, everybody at The Hi-Fi feeling fine and grooving away.
Their entire set was flawless, even for the encore when Vincent Juggernaut surprised the audience by coming back on stage wearing a raincoat, a gas mask and speaking through a megaphone. At the end of the night an invitation was set to the grooving mob imploring anyone who wished to, to jump on stage and dance to the last song, meaning two sweaty mosh pits and a whole lot of band-audience dance offs. It was a night of great music and constant tomfoolery and one not going to be forgotten by the participants for a long time.
