True Vibenation and Thievery Corporation both played sets the Enmore Theatre (11 February) that traversed musical influences from around the world, ricocheted between genres and gave everyone in the crowd the pleasing sensation that they could dance a little better than they actually could.
True Vibenation blend elements of Afro-beat, dubstep, soul, roots, and electronic music to create a sonic landscape that is both global and distinctly Australian.
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Their sound seamlessly blends electronic music with the raw energy of a live band. Their eclectic sound and magnetic stage presence, coupled with a collective inability to stand still at any given moment, created an infectious energy that got the 2,000-strong crowd, as the old stupid cliché goes, to dance like no-one was watching.
True Vibenation - Image © Claire AntogonymThe complex compositions of the experimental trio, their blasting horn section and live beat making ranged from soulful hip hop and riotous bass-heavy beats, to Afro-funk fusions punctuated by a ridiculous mastery of their brass instruments.
Playing tracks from their second album ‘ON’, the ‘pimp jacket connoisseurs’ brought their fiery and eclectic mix of horns, hip hop, electronic and soul feels that managed to get the whole crowd in that vast space stampeding from very early on.
True Vibenation - Image © Claire AntagonymThe Thievery Corporation set blended genres and influences, creating a sound that was at times delicate, sensuous, sometimes uplifting, sometimes bittersweet, but continually mesmerising.
Each guest musician brought a unique and distinctive feel to the set, and the crowd went from stomping wildly to heady junglist rhythms to swaying gently to reflective songs sung in other languages that somehow managed to convey a deep sense of loss and nostalgia.
Thievery Corporation - Image © Claire AntagonymIt was a complexly-crafted electronic adventure that traversed the boundaries of genre and form. From its inception the sonic landscape of Thievery has been deeply inspired by bossa nova, a genre of Brazilian music that is a lyrical fusion of samba and jazz.
Thievery Corporation - Image © Claire AntagonymPotent female vocalists weaved among intricate rhythms and lush textures of the sitar, bass and percussive elements. Every now and then drummer Jeff Franca would execute a mad drum and bass beat at breathtaking speed and with an intrinsic and deeply felt groove.
It was a dreamy, haunting and hypnotic live performance punctuated by fiery percussion and thunderous basslines. In terms of genre the live set created a spectrum that spanned everything from whimsical dub-reggae to psychedelic rock.
Thievery Corporation - Image © Claire AntagonymThe crowd swung between feelings of vintage nostalgia and energetic groove as the artists reverberated between dub, acid jazz, Middle Eastern and hip hop genres. Everyone felt all the feelings, and only wished it could have gone on longer.
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