In the country to play St Jerome’s Laneway Festival next weekend, Seattle based Mike Hadreas aka Perfume Genius first snuck in two intimate showcases, including one on the closing night of the 2013 Sydney Festival, at The Famous Spiegeltent.
The tour comes almost a year after the artist released his acclaimed sophomore LP Put Your Back N 2 It and saw Mike arrive in the country with a backing two piece, playing songs off the latest album, his debut Learning as well as a few covers.
Those who know Hadreas will already know much of what I’m about to say about the artist. He likes to keep his songs short and to the point, often removing traditional composition e.g. a chorus, but telling stories very much from the heart. The songs from the 31 year old frequent on the sadder side of life, telling tales of woe, love, suffering and addiction. He likes to use variations of the words “baby” more often that Justin Bieber, references to tears and crying flow rapidly, and there is a sadness in his voice that makes you wonder how he manages to get through so much emotionally strong music every night. And given the length of most of his songs, in under an hour he can get through a LOT of his music.
It was the perfect setting to hear his music. It felt like he was speaking right to you, and this will undoubtedly get lost in the festival environment (still, I highly recommend fans of artists like Active Child from last year to check him out). It does feel a bit repetitive a times, but when you have this much music put together into a short amount of time, that’s perhaps only natural. It was also perfect given the rain outside, with the artist commenting “I can play in the sun, sure, but I prefer to play (in weather like this)… it suits me”. And indeed it does. The forlorn and somber tone to his voice and melody were incredibly appropriate.
With the songs so short and jumping so quickly from one to the next, it would be hard to pick out highlights from the night, however the drum heavy “Dark Parts” and the beautiful “Learning” are two that immediately spring to mind. In addition to his own material, such as “Look Out Look Out”, “No Tear”, “Mr. Peterson”, single “Hood” and the incredible “All Waters”, which saw Hadreas at his emotive best, Hadreas performed a cover of Madonna’s “Oh Father” and Sade’s “By Your Side”, which both fit well into Perfume’s lyrical roster.
Though his voice was immaculate, certain aspects of his performance weren’t quite so. During “17”, he forgot to sing a lyric, admitting “I get too into my own music sometimes and forget to sing”. There was a unique honesty in that. A fragility to his performance that in spite of its professional and mature sound, make it feel like an amateur was on stage, giving extra credence to the personal lyrics and overall vibe of the show.
I left the night not quite sure what to make of Hadreas. I knew I liked him, but the show didn’t blow me away like I thought it might. But on the same note, I sat there for an hour mesmerized by his unique way of storytelling. The glimpses into his life that few would probably want to know the full story of – and perhaps herein lies the reason some are so short. Definitely check him our at Laneway (or at his sideshow in Melbourne later this week) and make up your own mind…
Remaining Australian tour dates:
Jan 30 Laneway Sideshow at Northcote Social Club
Feb 1 Brisbane Laneway Festival
Feb 2 Sydney Laneway Festival
Feb 3 Melbourne Lanway festival
Feb 8 Adelaide Lanway Festival
Feb 9 Perth Lanway Festival
Photo by Catherine McElhone.
