Monday, September 17, 2007
Konichiwa bitches from Sydney to Melbourne.
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 Last night I finally got to see Robyn do her thing in the flesh. And boy was she electrifying.
Down she came with her band, consisting of a keyboard player, the super-good-looking drummer, and the seriously cool Kleerup.
Playing at the luscious and not-overly-hip-that-it's-pretentious Miss Libertines in Melbourne's CBD, the Swedester played a set comprising of 12 songs (even if my stolen copy of the on-stage set list claims there were 13,) kicking it off with Cobrastyle.
Punching her fists in the air and to her sides, tossing her silky white hair up and down, left to right, Robyn took control of the audiences attention the second she bat her eyelashes at them.
Incredible jolts of energy and ferocious stage presence shone through performances of Crash & Burn Girl, and the stomping electric-drum moment during Who's That Girl.
 Here come the drums.
One of my absolute knock-out Robyn favourites has always been Bum Like You, so I was pleasantly surprised and quite excited to hear and see it performed live. Stunning - and fiery - performances of Handle Me and Konichiwa Bitches ("Australia has been playing this song for ages, something I couldn't even get them to do in the UK, so thank you!") followed, with me hitting an absolute musical peak of epic proportions once Keep This Fire Burning began. I even got to share a moment of singing the chorus along with her as she sang it to me up the front. Lufffley!
Be Mine rocked, which was an obvious crowd favourite, but my highlight was most definitely hearing a ravishing live take on the Christian Falk track Robyn sung on, Dream On (musically, a really lush homage to Cosmic Baby/mid-90's rave) which is so lovely in its original form that you probably wont believe me when I say the live version was even better. But it was, honest. I was particularly impressed to see more than a couple of people actually knew the song in the audience too, which was a moment of self-assurance the gig hadn't just been filled with people whose history of her begins and ends with Konichiwa Bitches being played on the radio. Finally, time made way for a powerfully intense performance of With Every Heartbeat, which was entrancing to be apart of, especially seeing how the whole band got into the groove of it WITH Robyn.
After some claps and cheers, Robyn and her gang returned with a stunning, slow and melodic rendition of Show Me Love, which turned into quite the venue sing-a-long.
It all ended with Robyn's cover of the Prince classic Jack U Off, which was superb, funky, and a little bit punky; the perfect way to sign off.
The night delivered a lot of surprises. I had always expected Robyn to be incredible, but I wasn't prepared to be THAT blown away. Somehow, she managed to surpass the rather high expectations I'd placed on the gig before going. Now THAT'S a pop star!
Crowd was divine, and a complete polar opposite to the crowd the delightful Pop Trash Addicts experienced at Robyn's Sydney show on Friday (Roxane LeBrasse, the Thirsty Jerc and that gay guy from Scandal'us? WTF?) There was virtually none of that pretentious bullshit I had expected there to be, with a lot of beautiful faces around, but none of the sorts that think their shit don't stink BECAUSE they're beautiful. The small venue was mainly made up of genuine Robyn & pop music fans, Electro lovers and the casual Triple J listener. I think the under promotion of the Melbourne gig helped filter out the wanks too; probably a good thing the event was held on a Sunday night, too.
Also, I met some New Zealand fans who had flown down JUST to see Robyn play in Melbourne. Dedication. Turns out they were all hardcore pop fans too, as was another girl whom I had a serious conversation with right before the gig started discussing the merits Nicola Roberts brings to the world of music, and why Girls Aloud are monumental. Then I found out one of the Kiwi guys works for Universal NZ and spent two days in a van with the girls last year during their Aus/NZ promo tour. Bastard.
Had the pleasure (isn't it always my dear?) of bumping into the brilliance that is Jess Culture, and meeting Mr. eMackinations & Cade, along with other splendid pop fans who were not afraid to chat with strangers. Had a small chinwag with Kleerup at the bar. He loves Popjustice very, very much. Almost as much as he loves doing shots of whiskey apparently!
Just before Robyn made a swift exit, I caught her at the staircase near the loo and got a Modular person to take a photo of us together. A total set of four (!) European kisses and hugs were exchanged before she scurried down the side of the venue. She said she loved Oz and couldn't wait to come back again soon. Hopefully it won't be so long next time!
Oh and no, I'm not sure why Modular gave her the Kangaroos Football Club scarf to be honest. I mean, surely there was a Collingwood one in the same airport gift shop, but whatever.
Click on the photos to view bigger versions, and feel free to use the pics on your site if you wish to (all have been taken by me.) BUT please do credit me, my poor feet put up with a lot of standing around to secure that prime spot!
> Read Pop Trash Addict's ace review of the Sydney Gig.
> Read the fabulous Patrick from PopGoesCanberra's review of the same gig on the PJ forums.
> See eMack's YouTube vids of the Melbourne gig.
Labels: Gig Reviews
11 Comments:
- 1:26 AM | J'ason D'luv said...
Nice! That's so cool that you got to see Robyn!
Question, though: Is that your boyfriend in the top pic with you? You always go for the butch ones...
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- 3:53 AM | Paul said...
hahahahahahah oh dluv you crack me so very consistently up... hehe, those are some amazing pics adem! Sounds like a fun night! ooo link me to the gay one from scandal'us!
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- 10:16 AM | Trash Addict said...
Great review! I think the setlist was exactly the same in Sydney - only without the too cool to look remotely interested crowd. The pics are amazing, how fantastic that you got to meet Robyn!
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- 10:17 AM | Poster Girl said...
Awww--some great pictures there! And it sounds like a great time.
I should really say this on the post two below this one, but I waited until this past weekend to work my way through your '50's-'70's post to make sure I'd go through it right, and it really was a great thing; I don't think I owned any music from before the '70's, and even those were only the sporadic track or two, so it was the perfect-sized and -written introduction.
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- 10:22 AM | Jess said...
Lovely to see you too!
"Also, I met some New Zealand fans who had flown down JUST to see Robyn play in Melbourne. Dedication. Turns out they were all hardcore pop fans too, as was another girl whom I had a serious conversation with right before the gig started discussing the merits Nicola Roberts brings to the world of music, and why Girls Aloud are monumental. Then I found out one of the Kiwi guys works for Universal NZ and spent two days in a van with the girls last year during their Aus/NZ promo tour. Bastard."
ARGH! I was given an assignment to FIND these very people! My friend Justyn is part of their posse - if I'm right, they organise a (monthly?) night of pop in Auckland called Sound Of The Overground. Justyn and yours truly have been talking about doing a Melbourne version for yonks.
Man, small world. I wish we'd all managed to hook up and have a chin wag, but it was a school night and I had to go home early. Boo.
Fucking ace gig though.
x
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- 11:20 AM | Adem IAR said...
D'luv: BWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!
Paul: I don't even remember the guys name! And he was never officially gay, was always a firm belief though.
PTA: She was so cute!
PG: Oh I am so pleased you dug the 50s-70s post, that's very much put a smile on my face :)
Jess: Oh noes! Yeah, they seem to have found me through the Popjustice t-shirt which kind of served as a lovely conversation starter with a few strangers on Sunday night. The monthly pop night idea sounds VERY interesting because it's something a couple of us in Geelong & Melb have been wanting to put on one for ages too... And after Sunday night, I reckon it'd be nice to throw a pop party at Miss Libertines......
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- 10:32 AM | Phil said...
Fabulosa! Isn't her show fantastic! Worra little powerhouse of energy she is. I've got tix for the November shows here in Londres.
And the drummer can bang on mine anytime!
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- 7:35 PM | xolondon said...
Talk about "good seats"! Wow. Wish she'd play America, sniff sniff. I shant complain to you though, b/c I am not sure Madonna has even set foot in Australia.
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- 2:21 PM | Adem IAR said...
Phil: He's bloody YUM innhe? Do let me know how the show you go to fares, and take some pics if you can!
xo: She brought The Girlie Show here, which was her first - and last - time to Australia. I had tickets (front fucking row) and all but due to a family tragedy, was unable to go. I am still horrified with the timing of it all.
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- 12:13 PM | xolondon said...
I JUST noticed your tshirt in the Robyn pic! Peter Robinson would be so pleased...
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- 6:18 PM | Johnny RuDe said...
Hey girlfriend...have you heard. Miss Thing is coming back in November for a proper(ish) tour!
Yah!
See ya there. x
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