Confidence Man is a hard band to explain, but their name holds a certain weight that's felt throughout the Australian music scene, and quickly spreading across the world.
The spectacular four-piece is fronted by Janet Planet and Sugar Bones, with Clarence McGuffie and Reggie Goodchild donning black drapes to cover their faces. Over time the group that stemmed from writing 'joke songs' is now riding the huge success of their sophomore album 'Tilt'.Bringing their theatrical show to Meanjin's/ Brisbane's The Fortitude Music Hall (26 August), the band had punters jumping around to some of the hottest tracks.
Clearly still riding high from their April release, Confidence Man jumped right into the new material, notably gaining some extra energy from the crowd playing 'Does It Make You Feel Good?', a track that has gained the band huge amounts of notoriety and airplay across the last few months.
Image © Harrison Innes
For anyone that has never been to a Confidence Man show, it's hard to know what you're getting yourself into. There's costume changes, there's choreographed dancing, and lots and lots of hip thrusting. The crowd is clearly urged to get into it, let loose and bring their best dance moves.
When watching them on stage, you could say while Janet Planet and Sugar Bones orchestrate the crowd and the energy, Clarence and Reggie keep the show moving and beat flowing.
Image © Harrison Innes
There were moments in the show where this became apparent, as short costume changes were filled with musical interludes. Something that became noticeable was how the show flowed like a DJ set – no specific stops between songs.
While this did make focusing in on one song's energy a little more difficult than usual, it kept the vibe and energy of the showing flowing from one song to the next, and kept punters dancing on – a smart trick for a dance show.
Image © Harrison Innes
For me, it was the costumes that stole the show. From oversized blocky suits moving in ways you wouldn't expect, to the light-up bra cones and shoulder pads being worn for 'C.O.O.L Party'.
Talking of 'C.O.O.L Party', there were a few tracks from the band's debut album 'Confident Music For Confident People'. 'Don't You Know I'm In a Band' had young crowd members climbing their friends shoulders for a dance and of course, 'Boyfriend (Repeat)' brought the classic Conman energy; a track that everyone can get around and get down too.
Image © Harrison Innes
All in all, Confidence Man played nearly every song off of 'Tilt' for an energetic hour and fifteen minutes, and after a short walk-off, crowd-chant for an encore, graced the crowd once again.
"Okay, one more because you guys are sexy." Launching into one last, nearly seven-minute dance craze, Confidence Man brought the energy to a close with an extended version of what I think would've been 'Relieve The Pressure'. You can't quote me on that, I was too busy dancing to it.
More photos from the show.
