Few men are able to combine ethereal, chillwave styled soundscapes with soft, Justin Timberlake-fashioned R&B at the same level as North American native Tom Krell.
Performing under the moniker How To Dress Well – a phrase picked up whilst reading a magazine – the soulful vocalist has been touring off of his recently released sophomore record Total Loss, with Adelaide’s Rocket Bar being stop number two on his second ever Australian tour.
Up first were Adelaide’s Archie – a not-so-simple setup of a female vocalist, two keyboardists, a bassist, and drummer. Their half-hour set showcased a solid range of indie pop, jazz, and a little bit of dance, with their singer never shying away from producing passionate vocals.
One hour later, up stepped How To Dress Well himself with his backing crew of one visual technician and one audio technician. It seemed that problems were present from the start of Krell’s set, with the first song plagued with requests to fix the foldback sound.
Continuing along gracefully with tracks such as “Cold Nights” and “World I Need You, Won’t Be Without You”, it was after this that things started to get a little heated, with Krell pleading to the sound person: “Dude, I can’t do songs like this. I can’t hear anything up where I am.”
Claiming it was also too quiet for the audience, the R&B singer had no choice but to press on to his beloved crowd. Following with tracks such as “Suicide Dream 1”, “Ready For The World”, and “Ocean Floor For Everything”; Krell claimed his performance as “a live experiment” as he was unable to hear anything being played and had to imagine what his backing track was.
As the set was coming to a close, Krell performed the ever deep “Set It Right”, as well as “Running Back” to a crowd that was growing in appreciation as each song was performed. Deciding to perform his last song a capella, Krell thanked his entourage as they walked off the stage.
Introducing the final song, titled “Blue”, as a devotion to his brother, the singer attempted to perform with both his microphones. Claiming they “weren’t doing it for him”, he ditched them and decided to sing at the front of the stage – unamplified – to the modest crowd. At the end of his set, his fans blew up in appreciation for such a pristine performance.
