Photo credit: Rémi Chauvin
During DARK MOFO the city of Hobart takes on an eerie red glow, and the Odeon Theatre is no exception. As I sit perched up in the very upper mezzanine of this very fancy theatre, my attention is shifted to the stage as some musicians enter, and the crowd lets out their first cheer. Shortly after, a finger picked guitar melody plays and is joined by some rumbling percussion, strings, and what I think is an oboe and some keys as the band plays a mostly instrumental track with some haunting vocals hovering over the soundscape.
The following track Burden of Life kicks off with the percussion heard earlier, and Beth Gibbons starts singing sweet melodies over them. The strings, keys and guitars join back in followed by an overpowering violin solo. The song continues as a melodic journey and as it ends, it receives a massive applause from the other incredibly quiet, mesmerised crowd members.
This is the mellowest show I have been to for a while, and to be honest, it is quite a refreshing change away from the usual noise of distorted guitars, guttural screams, and double kicks. The guitars kick off Floating on a Moment which is a bit of a more standard sounding acoustic arrangement. And as I was about to mention that the strings haven’t made much of a mention, they stick their heads out and take over with a strong melody and backing accompaniment.
Suddenly, some rather large glow sticks are helicoptered in the air by the drummer, keyboardist and woodwindist. Then the acoustic guitarist strums some chords, and we hear a track by the name of Rewind. The sounds this bunch of incredibly talented bunch of musicians create is amazing, and they also each seem to be skilled on a multitude of different instruments. This one got quite psychedelic by the end of it, and the crowd erupted after the last note was played.
The psychedelic vibes continue in For Sale, which is filled full of synths, strings, and a variety of percussive instruments. This whole show is a bit of a vibe that would best be experienced in an altered state. Not that I am endorsing that kind of thing or saying that there’s anything wrong with that. This is Dark Mofo after all, and we shall not discriminate or judge as long as you are behaving yourself.
The next tune, Mysteries, get a bit normal all of a sudden as a simple finger picked acoustic guitar melody plays and Beth sings ever so sweetly over it. That’s pretty much how the whole song goes, as Beth stands in the dark. This whole show so far has been much like a Tool show, where all you can really see are shadows of the performers as the lights point across and over the stage, but never quite directly on Beth or any of the band members. In an odd way, it is quite mesmerising.
Lost Changes is up next, and it introduces the whole band back into play. It even introduces someone whistling along at the end. This is another very cruisy but tastefully musical track, highlighting Beth’s amazing voice. This really is a cruisy beginning to my Dark Mofo experience, which is kind of a relief after walking all over town today and clicking up about 15km already. So, I kick back for a couple of songs, including Oceans and Tom The Model, just to take in the show. Tom The Model ended with a haunting whole of band vocal harmony that resulted in a bit of the old shivers, and not just because it is bloody cold in Hobart!
Next up is Beyond The Sun, which has a real odd tribal vibe to it. It also had some crazy sax sounding solo over the top, but it was hard to make out where the sound was coming from or what instrument as the stage turned Dark Mofo red and further shadowed everyone out.
Another mainly acoustic track, titled Whispering Love follows, but it does end up having some backing from the bass and violins. It’s really all about Beth’s voice, though, and the band is really just there to build atmosphere and set the scene. And boy, do they add some atmosphere. The band has now left the stage, which remains eerily lit with blue beams of light. The crowd start stomping their feet, clapping, and cheering, and after a few minutes the band re-enters the stage to a massive applause and cheer.
Beth and the band then finish with a few encores, including Roads, Glory Box, and Reaching. This was not my usual kind of show, but it was a fantastic one, nonetheless. The crowd thought so too, as Beth and the band received a standing ovation.
