Heading to the doors after the full room standing ovation, the guy behind me says to his plus one ‘That (he emphasised) was really inspiring’.
It sounds meeker here than it did at the time - the room was fully charged. We’d just seen ‘The Bigger Picture’ close at peak vibes after 70 minutes of meticulous layering, storytelling and build up.
About halfway through, in Sachém’s ‘Democracy’, the full brass section of Matt Hsu’s 22-piece Obscure Orchestra took all the air space in QPAC’s epic Concert Hall. Vibes were bouncing off every surface. One trumpet player was so lit it felt like a solo – but then you notice beyond the spotlight, there’s more in the back. The whole thing got bigger and bigger until it exploded into a perfectly unexpected trombone finish.
‘Take if Off’, driven by charging drums and delicious, recurring moments by the flautists (like unexpected pompoms thrown into the air) really wrapped us all up in a full orchestral experience. Then, in a quieter moment, it felt almost like time travel.
Sachém’s spoken word, alternating between language and English, set against the three screens of Shan Jacobe’s visuals of campfire embers floating into a night sky, was beautiful and powerful. In the context of his come-up (on the collab with his cousins he said), it offered moments to consider all the stories ever told around campfires so far. “This,” he offers in between songs of both himself and the broader community, “is a coming of age story.” And it was a story that celebrated all those in it – both on the night and leading up to it.
Singer RINA held the stage for the full show with her soaring vocals (props also to surprise vox addition by flautist Saro Roro!), guests Grandmaster and Nerve fired up ‘Ease Up’ and ‘My City’ respectively before the whole thing levelled up again when legend Tom Thum fronted for the finale … ‘Glitter and Gold’.
The whole experience was one of living breathing collaboration (between artists, networks, industries and communities, by the vibe of it) that, even as it ended felt like we were all actually just approaching the start of something.
– written by Alison Mooney
