“Hey hey, my name is Jonti and it’s 2013 now – let’s get things going, alright?”
A few seconds later, a deep, deep bass envelops the room with the vibrations this Sydney-via-South Africa all-star quickly doles out.
Difficult to place under any musical category, Jonti is a one man show and self-sufficient in every way. Multi-instrumentalist, producer and arranger, he also carries a most affecting voice.
It’s not heard very much throughout his 45-minute set but when Jonti does utilise those impressive pipes for a few operatic verses, it’s stunning.
His usually water-coloured recorded work struggles to translate live, oftentimes sounding vexatious and brash but it’s a pleasing set as he plays to an almost-sold-out audience – and he’s clearly stoked.
The original gig scheduled for the 27th January was cancelled following more harrowing weather in Queensland, with mass power outages following the cyclonic climate. Hermitude return to Brisbane just over a week later to satiate their ardent fans’ thirst for the hip hop duo’s instrumental beats.
Although The Zoo is technically not at capacity tonight, as their original show would have been, with tickets still available at the door due to sellbacks, it hasn’t hindered the energy in the room.
“We’re back, Brisbane, we’re back!” Elgusto tells, to unbridled applause. Along with Luke Dubs, they begin a perfectly layered build-up of immense noise to get the crowd going, and it doesn’t stop.
From sampling “In The Jungle” to free-styling on keytars and old school drum machines slung over their shoulders, Elgusto and Luke Dubs are entertainers, start to finish.
Instead of simply performing their titular album track, “HyperParadise”, the music couple from the Blue Mountains cleverly (and amusingly) spin the remix done by Sydneysider Flume to spectacular result.
Slipping right into a remix of The Presets’ “Ghosts” and with a little sidenote from Elgusto (“I hope you guys like bass”), the show shifts forward as fat notes are smoothly dropped.
Anthem-like chanting begins as accompaniment, and the duo from New South Wales takes the chance to delve into their more dirty bass, trance-inspired material.
They melt the crowd. It’s more substantial than Hermitude’s commercially popularised tracks and the boys are stoked to be playing headline shows in which they have the time to really do their breadth of work justice.
Hermitude have been around since 2000 (and were seasoned performers even before that) but who have been enjoying heavy commercial success with HyperParadise (2012), their fourth studio album.
“We’re gonna flashback a decade… Oh, shit, I don’t wanna give away our age but… Shit, I think I just did,” laughs Luke Dubs before surprising the audience with a few tracks from their 2003 album, Alleys To Valleys.
Amongst a video background of blue skies and flying birds, Elgusto and Luke Dubs often appear as if they’re coming at the crowd from sunlight, such is the glowing light show that’s designed.
The video game sampled track “Let You Go” features some seriously tight scratching, and both that and “Speak of the Devil” go down absolute treats (with the latter having the award-winning film clip splashed across the screen, along with live footage of the crowd and stage).
While “Threads” and “Fray” hold multiple build ups and drop offs, it’s never tiresome – more oddly moving and sends impromptu dance circles forming awry up the back of The Zoo.
The Sydney-based duo closes on an intense, pulsating version of “The Villain”, sending their fans into an undiluted disarray of dance.
Returning to the stage once more to cool things down a bit, the seldom-performed track from HyperParadise, “Cloud City” ensures a slick, smooth finish to the night. Apparently being one of the first written for the new album, it is – simply put – just one of those expertly put together pieces of electronic music.
There’s no doubt the show Hermitude put on is brilliant but, when it comes down to it, the Brisbane crowd was just happy to see them return so swiftly after another trying period of atrocious weather, giving the best form of musical relief.
