Jim Finn may be one third of electro rock outfit Art vs. Science, but on his own he is Vydamo, a synth-pop/rock maestro, stepping out in a little side project, away from his counterparts.
Perhaps due to his acquired fame from Art vs. Science’s success, although Finn is new on the scene as a solo act, the Sydneysider already has a massive following.
Though with two hits songs already under his belt (“Hurricane” and “Gonna Make It”), following a spot on Triple J’s Like A Version – all before his first ever solo gig – it was no surprise that the Melbourne leg of the Gonna Make It Tour existed within a very hot and packed out bandroom at The Toff.
Although performing to a half empty room at the beginning of the evening, Melbourne four-piece We The People entertained the hell out of those who were there.
For these select punters, arriving to the show early may have been their best decision yet, as they were greeted with 40 minutes of fun-inducing, dance filled tunes.
Resembling what you might peg as the illegitimate lovechild of The Wombats’ jiving pop-rock and Two Door Cinema Club’s elegant yet rocking-the-hell-out alt-pop, We The People create a range of elevating tracks, guaranteed to make you want to hear them again.
The quartet performed a selection of tracks, from latest single “Leon”, released just last month, to others from their 2012 debut EP My Castle, including the likes of “Trees” and “Superstars”, and more that are still yet to be recorded.
The pristine vocals from frontman James Seymour were especially evident in the slower numbers, however, the pinnacle of the set was a cleverly constructed and brilliantly executed cover/mashup of Taylor Swift’s mainstream hit “Trouble” mixed with the indie electronics of Flume’s “Holdin’ On”.
Evan Jones, frontman of Melbourne indie rock band The Universal, accompanied We The People on stage to play bass in the next song and James Seymour’s younger brother Ben also joined in on saxophone.
Together, the six performed an admirable version of Twinsy’s “Water Bombs”, focusing less on the exotic xylophone and more on it dance rock vibe, with the crowd as enthusiastic as ever.
Despite the audience’s pleas with a demanding chant for “one more song”, We The People finished their set with “Birds Together”, a track filled with as much fun as those that preceded it, ensuring the energetic crowd danced their way through the set – literally from start to finish.
The hotbox of a band room was now filled with sweaty, smiling punters, in well need of a breather before the main act was to appear.
With a four-piece band accompanying, Jim Finn fleeted onto the stage, with a little headband strung across his forehead, looking less electro and more hippy than ever.
He led the band through a series of indie pop tracks, laced with synth, keys and a surprising acoustic guitar addition. The crowd toned down by several notches, bopping along to the range of varied tempo tracks that filled Finn’s second ever performance as Vydamo.
The singer/songwriter’s incredible voice and musical talents were on full display this evening, for those who were actually listening and watching; much of the audience talked through an intimate intro to recent hit single “Hurricane”.
However, once realising what song it was, punters sang along to the feel good alt-pop track.
Several instrument changes, while impressive, did nothing but encourage the crowd to return to its chattering, and with slower numbers that are surely supposed to evoke some kind of emotional state, they unfortunately did little to draw punters back into focus.
Surely enough, Vydamo closed with his biggest hit to date, “Gonna Make It”, which finally saw the venue return to its dance-machine state seen earlier in the evening.
Finn linked arms with his tour band and they all took a bow front of stage, theatrical as ever, yet somewhat charming.
In a headlining set that did not exceed an hour’s length, it was disappointing a man with a calibre of talent such as Finn’s could not keep the crowd amused.
Despite the packed out numbers, the audience was indeed surprisingly substandard. Perhaps once an album is released punters will know the words to more songs and will react accordingly, however, on this particular night – as rare as it is – the support act were certainly considerably more enjoyable than the headliner.
