Gig Review: Cut Copy.

CUT COPY

5 MAY 2011

PALACE THEATRE

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Cut Copy brought their shimmering white-light disco stylings back home to Melbourne on a beautiful and crisp Thursday evening at the stately Palace Theatre in the CBD, and my wife and I were there to breathe in the intoxicating fumes of one of the more reliably consistent live acts I've had the pleasure of seeing multiple times. But this was the first time I've seen them as a quartet as opposed to a trio, and funnily enough my wife C. and I were standing next to a nice looking couple near the mixing booth at the beginning of the show (we'd missed, sadly, the opening band, The Holidays) when the gentleman leaned over and told us that he was the bassist's brother-in-law. He pointed at his partner. "That's his sister," he muttered, sounding as if he'd had a few beers. Her brother, of course, would have been Ben Browning, who was brought into Cut Copy's fold for the recording and touring of their third full-length album Zonoscope. Browning's sister looked rather embarrassed, and then they moved on to another location; I'd reckon she probably said something like this to him later: I'd really appreciate it if you didn't say that to strangers again. Who knows; C and I found it funny and rather charming. I'd probably tell people if I was related to a member of Cut Copy.

But I digress. At 10 sharp, the lights went down and the lilting notes of the instrumental "Visions," from In Ghost Colours, began streaming from the speakers. Segueing perfectly into "Nobody Lost, Nobody Found," the 90-minute set sparked into life, bathing the sold-out environs of the Palace in a delectable feast of sparkling guitar-based synth-pop that not only reminded one of the halcyon days of the best of the '80s, but also revealed a bopping '60s mentality that wouldn't have been out of place on a Beach Boys record. Of particular notice were the tracks off the new album, which – man, oh man – they positively shone, they were so damn tight and achingly beautiful. "Need You Now," the slow-burning and powerful first single off Zonoscope, practically soared through the ceiling with Dan Whitford's angelic vocals and Erasure-reminiscent synth loops. "Take Me Over" never ceased to delight, what with its impossible-to-shake-from-one's-head catchiness – as I said before, a great driving song. A shimmering surf-rock feeling washes over the sunny "Where I'm Going," and the chants and droid-dance quirkiness of "Pharaohs & Pyramids" gave the audience a taste of the influence Kraftwerk has had on their musical palates. But, I was most curious about, what was "Sun God," that 15-minute behemoth of majestic synths, boisterous percussion, squalling guitars, and dreamy rhythms, going to sound like in a live setting? Fucking awesome, is the answer. I'm telling you: It was simply crazy. Say what you will about the Cut Copy live experience – "Sun God" was different. They just went batshit. Crazy feedback, an extra drummer, a video screen in the centre of the stage displaying objects blowing up in slow motion in a desert somewhere, aggressive lighting, and, simply put, four dudes on stage grinning like idiots and having the time of their lives made this a bloody standout. 


Oh, Cut Copy: your live shows are turning into events. And that's a great thing. After two encores, they finished with the gorgeous "Feel The Love." I think the crowd filing out of the Palace Theatre felt that way about Cut Copy's music. It was amazing, and I for one cannot wait to see what they do next.


Here's 28 seconds of "Sun God" I filmed on my iPhone:

setlist

visions

nobody lost, nobody found

where i'm going

so haunted

corner of the sky

lights and music

take me over

saturdays

pharaohs & pyramids

hearts on fire

sun god

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need you now

out there on the ice

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feel the love

Oh, and here's Cut Copy performing "Saturdays" live for NYC's Fearless Music.