Sydney electronic dance pop trio Art vs. Science hit up Perth as part of their ‘Off The Edge Of The Earth…’ tour on Saturday night with KLP in tow, returning to Capitol nightclub for a party of a night.
Local Catlips appeared for a brief DJ set, packing out the background sound for doors open with less than mild enthusiasm, though at 8pm with a few dozen punters in who can blame her. There was a short break before KLP hit the stage and, while better known as the Triple J House Party host, she’s been garnering some attention with her latest singles that had me keen to check out a full set and I was pretty happy with the show she brought.
Swinging back and forth across the stage between her percussive partner and backing vocalist there was nothing to shy away from as the crowd gathered to shuffle along. Setting out to prove she has always been a singer first and foremost, KLP ran us through her versatile tracklist; songs that wouldn’t go astray if you were in it for a chilled out vibe, while still holding that electronic upbeat tempo to have you dancing.
The crowd interaction was great without being over the top for early in the night, KLP giving some insight into her tracks throughout. The lyricism follows the classic pop stylings that will have the chorus hooks ringing in your head after, with a little sing off with her backing vocalist and even a rap thrown in for good measure. Drawing some applause, she told the crowd that unfortunately, Remi was in Melbourne for his part of “Recover”, before tossing her jacket and executing the full track without misstep. Latest single “Air” probably had the most crowd involvement, as she had the room swaying with their arms up. Obviously comfortable with performing and spreading smiles all round, KLP was a good warm up for the main act.
By the time Art vs. Science took to the stage, the venue had begun filling up to its usual standard, the front row very obviously buzzing and with good reason. I only have good memories of previous gigs from the trio and the night’s performance was no different, in terms of energy. Opening with “Unity” from their touring release, before jumping into “Create/Destroy” and “AIM Fire”, there wasn’t a point where the crowd wasn’t jumping and singing along, as they mixed hits from across their albums and EPs. Halfway through the set, their Like A Version of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” was played much to the claps and cheers from the floor, before “Magic Fountain” had us screaming “Magic! Magic! Magic!” like 5 year olds at a birthday party.
With no slow down in pace and the dancing spirit glinting heartily in every punters eye, the venue sweat levels only increased as AVS ran through “Friend in the Field” and “In This Together”, to the customary point of the Capitol floor bouncing under our feet. But it wasn’t enough, the trio were determined to hit Bluejuice levels of sweat, after a little sing along of “Aaaayiiiaaahhhhh” with Dan Mac to ensure our vocals were on point the shirts came off for “Hollywood”, the crowd needing little encouragement to follow suit.
The opening lines of “Parlez Vouis Francais” were the point of no return, as the floor went off, arms gesturing in the air along with the instrumental solos spread throughout the track, trailing off before hitting the final chorus with explosive energy. “Flippers” has always been the biggest song through every live rendition I’ve seen and this night was no different with a barrage of limb flailing closing the set.
If you haven’t yet bought tickets for the rest of the tour I’d jump on that pretty soon, it’s guaranteed to be a fun night if heavy synthy beats, original lyrics, catchy guitar hooks and upbeat percussion are anything to go by.
Art vs. Science have maintained a really strong sound across their releases and that is only enhanced live, especially with Dan Mac’s sheer concentration on the synth, Dan W‘s evolving drumming face and Jim‘s tambourine rocking skills. It was a night of feel good vibes, where you made friends with the random bodies dancing next to you on the basis of how loud they sang “A.I.M Fiiiyyyaaaahhhh”, or hit the merch desk for a photo with the boys; either way, there were no complaints from the night and it was another solid show to add to the list of good memories.
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