Brisbane's The Fortitude Music Hall was overrun on Friday. Overrun by a lone individual who needed no entourage – JPEGMAFIA.
The tonal shifts of the show (28 February) thrashed you. Peggy gave a shout-out to 'Bald!' audience members with a nostalgic, drum & bass type beat. Then, dressed in his cowboy hat, Peggy threw you backwards to an Auto-Tune a capella cover of 'Call Me Maybe' that would make T-Pain's eyes water.Once you gain your composure, you're hit in the gut with the hardest beat you've ever heard with 'Sin Miedo'. Its heavy bassline and kick drum kicked you all the way back to your throat. These dynamic shifts kept the show incredibly engaging.
Peggy's production is so varied, from twinkling sounds of a music box to industrial, metallic booms. Despite the variety, tracks stay consistent and connected in hitting so hard. Especially for me, as a newer fan, I had no time to process what I was being assaulted with.
Haze filled the theatre, literally spilling out the main entrance of the building (Peggy's throat must have been made out of steel). All the stage lights became incredibly vibrant.
The song 'JPEGULTRA!' begun. The colours bounced off the fog turning the entire stage, from floor to ceiling, into a massive flood light of red. A wall of red pulsed to the beat, JPEG stepped from side to side as a sea of hands bounced and lights strobed white.
Image © Simone Gorman-Clark
Shout-out to the lighting guy and audio guy who queued backing tracks and vocal effects with well-timed reverb to emphasise certain bars. The show wouldn't have been the same level without them.
The first 50 minutes were so incredibly high energy. The floor was lava; the crowd with hot feet jumped six feet, hands up shouting licks. Casting spells, shapeshifter JPEG materialised through the fog, puppeteer and mind controller of the masses.
The crowd started to gas out toward the end, but I felt Peggy still had more in the tank.
I couldn't help feel in a perfect world, with an unlimited budget, Peggy could have invited all his collaborators and had elaborate set pieces fit for a show of a lifetime.
I'm sure JPEG is not bothered, he's just doing his thing, and this is not to detract from this high-quality show. I guess what I'm trying to say is you only get to see a slice of what JPEG is capable of in a mere 80 minutes.
Image © Simone Gorman-Clark
JPEGMAFIA is such a talented, unapologetically authentic artist. There's something different to JPEG: expect the unexpected, but not in a way of trying to be tricked or confused, but to be excited and engaged.
I had never dove deep into his music before tonight, I had seen him in interviews online. He was always so open to people, ideas and concepts. I figured anyone like that must have some insanely rich art – and tonight proved that theory right.
- written by Kalem Horn
More photos from the concert.
