Fresh off a recent European tour, Joep Beving has returned to Australia commencing where he left off in Adelaide, his final show of that tour four years ago preceding pandemic lockdowns.
This Adelaide appearance is at Her Majesty's Theatre (18 July), a well-deserved upgrade from playing the makeshift venue The Workshop back in 2020.Promoted as a performance of 'Hermetism', his back to basics last album following the exploratory, collaborative 'Henosis', only a quarter of the album is played, almost bookending the performance.
The performance starts in near darkness, a contrast to the audio-visual spectacles otherwise included as part of Illuminate Adelaide, Joep appearing early on in silhouette against a silhouette of an upright piano, slowly revealed as having the front wooden casing partially removed and the strings and hammer mechanisms exposed.
This opening suite of six unbroken pieces consisting of songs from 'Hermetism' and 'Prehension' as well as the song 'Losar' is punctuated by the perhaps unavoidable call and response of coughing across the width of the audience during which a baby cries briefly as the musical themes evolve and our eyes adjust to the minimal lighting.
Following 'Ab Ovo', Joep turns around to address the audience for the first time and gives thanks: "You did really well by not clapping." This is the first of three asides during which he talks to the audience and gives context to the songs being performed, a selection of pieces from the last nine years.
Only three songs are explicitly announced over the course of the set, each prefacing a suite of songs, the first 'Pax' preceding another six unbroken pieces.
Boris Acket's accompanying lighting installation becomes a visual draw, evolving from a simple revolving light into what could be described as a mechanical ballet that becomes more distinct during this second suite, the series of baffle-like structures above Joep at various times evoking a degree of animism in a choreography reminiscent of birds and fireflies as well as the contrasting iconography of 'Apocalypse Now'.
Joep commences a shorter third suite of songs playing 'For Mark', which he reveals was composed while friend and manager Mark Brounen was undergoing treatment for cancer that eventually took his life.
'Sleeping Lotus' is one of the earliest pieces played, a wordless take on parenthood that leads off the final suite. This is followed by 'Saudade da Gaia' before Joep removes the remaining piece of the top front panel of the piano and plays 'Hanging D' as a preordained faux encore.
This piece is definitely the most physical and dynamic, drowning out the initially intrusive earlier inadvertent audience participation that had briefly brought to mind Joep's own 'Saturday Morning' (not played tonight), the iPhone recording of which included background noise of his daughter while watching television.
Joep has spoken about the importance of the sound between the notes and it is this that makes this and every performance unique and special in its own way – if you were there, you were there, and if you were not, you were not.
Read our recent interview with Joep.
