The hipster elitists were out in force to see the latest buzz band to light up the blogosphere, Seekae, and celebrate the release of their latest record +Dome.
Warming up the stage was local artist AOI and his hip hop inspired electronica. The few punters who arrived early enough to watch his show seemed to appreciate the smooth beats and he received a warm round of applause at the end of the set. On the whole, AOI weaved together an interesting mix of massive bass and electronic glitches that in a different setting would’ve set the dance floor on fire.
True to form, the staunch Melbourne crowd remained reserved throughout Seekae’s set, with a few revellers up front swaying trance-like in time to the music. As far as their live show is concerned, Seekae did well to hold the audience’s attention, as watching a couple of shy looking guys twiddle knobs as they hunched over their laptops is never a particularly exciting affair. The show would have greatly benefited from a visual display to detract from the general awkwardness and lack of stage presence that the band members seemed to possess.
Their music sounded just like it does on record – glitchy electronics thrown over a lush sonic landscape, but their live show brought nothing more to the table than the recorded work had to offer. There was no intensity and no passion to elevate the show from being something good, to something truly spectacular. For this reason I found Seekae’s live performance to be rather underwhelming, however the massive round of applause they received at the end of the evening came from a satisfied crowd, who obviously engaged with something that this reviewer missed.
