Despite being released in June, the title track from Hiatus Kaiyote’s Love Heart Cheat Code has only recently stopped echoing in my mind. Luckily this past weekend the band added a stop at Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall to their list of home dates before heading off to the UK, planting that chorus in my head once more. Eager to see how the avant-garde blend of jazzy, soul and hip-hop would translate live, I was ready to dive in.
Unfortunately, I missed the brief 20-minute set by openers Sissyboy, but I was front and centre for the powerhouse performance of the second act, Miss Kaninna. Striding onto the stage with a confidence and presence that suggested a lifetime under the spotlight, the lutruwita/Tasmanian artist commanded attention. As a proud First Nations rapper, singer, and songwriter, Miss Kaninna’s delivery was nothing short of mesmerising, grabbing the audience and not letting them go. Her performance of “Blak Britney”, a 2023 single, earned a roar of applause and had the crowd in her hand.
Despite clear R&B and hip-hop influences, Miss Kaninna’s sound is a dichotomy between pop and unreserved true punk energy. The artist’s filterless crowd interaction puts an exclamation point on that last part too. Backed by a minimalist band featuring a drummer and a lone guitarist, the setup was lean, but effective.
After a brief interlude the room reached a fever pitch as Nai Palm and her merry band took the stage. Greeted by cheers and applause, the band wasted no time, launching into “Dreamboat,” the dreamy opener from Love Heart Cheat Code. The ethereal track set the tone perfectly, if not a bit slowly, as the crowd settled in for the long haul.
The setlist was a well-balanced mix of fan favourites and newer material. Early hits like “Red Room” hit equally as well as new offerings like “Telescope” and the quirky, crowd-pleasing “LongCat”. The title track from the new album struck a particular chord with its dancy rhythm and put it straight back in my phonological loop.
The visuals accompanying the performance were also fantastic. A massive screen behind the band featured animations tied to the new album’s artwork, while on stage footage moved between colour and black and white with psychedelic kaleidoscopic visuals.
The musicianship on display was as flawless as ever, which is no surprise if you’ve spun any of their records. Each band member effortlessly hit their mark, with Nai Palm even switching to the most metal looking Flying V at various points. Adding to the spectacle was a giant blue love heart mascot which danced across the stage, much to the delight of the audience. It even returned later in the night to throw out merch, which made me think: more bands need sports mascots!
However, Hiatus Kaiyote is a tricky band to see live, particularly if you come in without prior knowledge of their sound. Their music defies genre conventions—they don’t write soaring ballads meant for arm-in-arm pub choir singalongs, nor do they craft simple, club-ready bangers. Their often polyrhythmic structures and intricate melodies can be an acquired taste. While the abundance of crowd interaction certainly helped bridge the gap, I couldn’t help but wonder if a first-time listener might struggle to fully engage with the show, and might even miss the intricacies thanks to the fallible nature that is live sound and music.
The bands catalogue also doesn’t earn favours as well as it does in the recording format with it’s intricacies. It’s not that the band is inaccessible or incapable, but their sound certainly requires a specific appreciation and one that may not easily pull in those uninclined toward the experimental, especially live.
This would be even more apparent considering there were some issues with the sound, particularly from the middle-left section of the venue. As a result the audio was often muffled during crowd interactions rendering many of the onstage back and forths hard to hear. This is usually one of my favourite parts of live gigs too, so that was a bit disappointing but hardly a fault of the band.
That said, the band delivered strong in the back end with a two song encore, ensuring the crowd certainly got what they paid for. As the band closed and waved their way off stage, there was no cheat code for what Hiatus Kaiyote brought to Fortitude Valley —it was all heart.
THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Hiatus Kaiyote are touring through Australia with further stops in Perth and Adelaide on the 27th and 28th of September before heading to the UK and Asia. For more info and tickets, head to their website HERE
The writer attended the show at the Fortitude Music Hall on 21st September 2024.
