RÜFÜS @ The Palace Theatre, Melbourne (16/05/2014)
Experiencing Sydney's RÜFÜS is to ride a roller-coaster of aural and visual delights – quivering beats and rhythmic synthesized swells that stimulate each and every sweet spot of the music-loving psyche and ultimately produce an exquisite natural high.
The EDM trio, consisting of Jon George, Tyrone Lindqvist and James Hunt, have experiencd meteoric success with their debut album Atlas off the back of solid, danceable tracks like Take Me and Tonight.
In contrast to the refined appreciation at The Corner last year, tonight's crowd was young, drunk and wasted.
Rapture peaked with the show's opener, a rousing Modest Life, which had the energy at the Palace pinging at an all-time high. That crowd energy plateaued throughout the set is testament only to an audience responsive to the tone of the music, which melts from the ecstacy of pumping vocal-heavy house into a heady underbelly of bass-thumping trance.
Sundream, a highlight of Atlas with its atmospheric, escalating synths layered atop sparkling keys, fulfilled its name. Hearing RÜFÜS live is like hovering blissfully above ground on weightless clouds. The surprise element of harmonica adds a raw dynamism to the live set, in a trademark sound that is defined by tranquil luminosity. RÜFÜS' sleek beats, which occasionally bleed into darker segues, effect in the listener a somewhat stupefied state of euphoria.
This Summer was performed at much slower BPM than on record, which intensified this numbing effect. It was as if we were in a syrupy dreamworld, where RÜFÜS teased and stoked our innermost fantasies and desires.
A lush, stretched out 90 minutes of hazy, glistening, throbbing beats – the kind you feel in your bones, from your head to your toes – was enjoyed tonight, courtesy of a standout EDM act.
An outstanding rendition of Rendezvouz was encore for a rapturous audience adoring the last of the enigmatic performers. This particular live experience was simultaneously extraordinary and bittersweet – as it was the last show (gasp, EVER) at the beloved Palace Theatre.
A Melbourne venue that has hosted artists including Sonic Youth, Arctic Monkeys, and Mumford & Sons is sadly closing its doors as a 35,000 strong campaign has failed to beat developers plans for a hotel-apartment building.
More than once, RÜFÜS acknowledged the special venue, and its unforgettable presence in the heart of Melbourne's live music scene, encouraging us to lift the roof in tribute - and we obeyed.
Rebecca McCann
The EDM trio, consisting of Jon George, Tyrone Lindqvist and James Hunt, have experiencd meteoric success with their debut album Atlas off the back of solid, danceable tracks like Take Me and Tonight.
In contrast to the refined appreciation at The Corner last year, tonight's crowd was young, drunk and wasted.
Rapture peaked with the show's opener, a rousing Modest Life, which had the energy at the Palace pinging at an all-time high. That crowd energy plateaued throughout the set is testament only to an audience responsive to the tone of the music, which melts from the ecstacy of pumping vocal-heavy house into a heady underbelly of bass-thumping trance.
Sundream, a highlight of Atlas with its atmospheric, escalating synths layered atop sparkling keys, fulfilled its name. Hearing RÜFÜS live is like hovering blissfully above ground on weightless clouds. The surprise element of harmonica adds a raw dynamism to the live set, in a trademark sound that is defined by tranquil luminosity. RÜFÜS' sleek beats, which occasionally bleed into darker segues, effect in the listener a somewhat stupefied state of euphoria.
This Summer was performed at much slower BPM than on record, which intensified this numbing effect. It was as if we were in a syrupy dreamworld, where RÜFÜS teased and stoked our innermost fantasies and desires.
A lush, stretched out 90 minutes of hazy, glistening, throbbing beats – the kind you feel in your bones, from your head to your toes – was enjoyed tonight, courtesy of a standout EDM act.
An outstanding rendition of Rendezvouz was encore for a rapturous audience adoring the last of the enigmatic performers. This particular live experience was simultaneously extraordinary and bittersweet – as it was the last show (gasp, EVER) at the beloved Palace Theatre.
A Melbourne venue that has hosted artists including Sonic Youth, Arctic Monkeys, and Mumford & Sons is sadly closing its doors as a 35,000 strong campaign has failed to beat developers plans for a hotel-apartment building.
More than once, RÜFÜS acknowledged the special venue, and its unforgettable presence in the heart of Melbourne's live music scene, encouraging us to lift the roof in tribute - and we obeyed.
Rebecca McCann