w/ The Aston Shuffle
As a Brisbane girl, there are not many venues where you can step out of a gig and walk straight out onto the beach. It was a bit of a novelty, a ridiculously fun novelty. The reason for this road trip to The Coolangatta Hotel was Bluejuice’s Sizzling costal tour. Teaming up with The Aston Shuffle certainly brought out one hell of a sweaty summer dance party.
Indie-electro-house rockers The Aston Shuffle are quite something. The duo brought a crowd, that was a little less than willing, on a journey that by the end of it had them, eating out of the palm of the artists’ hands. I haven’t had the pleasure of witnessing many artists from this genre live, so it was educational for me. To look at, there was a lot of leg popping to the beat as well as lots of head nodding. It was awesome! I love seeing musicians getting into their own creations. Music wise, the duo was tight. There was a perfect combination between the preprogrammed music and the live riffs and electronics they were manipulating. More to the point though, it is smart music that actually has brains behind its creation. My personal highlight of the non-stop set was their single “Start Again”.
What I should have mentioned earlier was the staging at the venue. Fluro tape enhanced with UV lights. Bluejuice, you’re genius. It looked incredible. So simple, yet the most effective staging I have possibly ever encountered. From the moment they bounced onto stage, Bluejuice never let the energy in the room die. On stage talked of prostitutes, cocaine as well as other shenanigans when two and two go together – you catch my drift. Some things to note: Jake is one of the most eccentric frontmen I’ve seen in a good long while. While swinging his fluro tape covered mic about, it few off, and mysteriously disappeared… I have no idea if it was ever found. Combine this with Stav’s antics also, and you have something truly hectic. Second thing of note: the backing vocalists had choreographed the entire set, so whenever you would catch a glimpse of them, they were doing some wacky dancing completely different to the last time you looked. It was strangely wonderful. But I think that’s what this band are all about.
What I really like about Bluejuice’s set tonight was the fact that they didn’t limit themselves to playing songs from their new album, Company. They delved back into their past with a whole bunch of songs from their second album Head of the Hawk, as well as a couple from their debut LP, Problems. Each of their songs retains the energy of the last, and that makes for one hell of a party. There was an abundance of crowd participation, and Master Stav made sure that this occurred on a regular basis.
What a way to kick off the year! This was truly an amazing gig. And what made it all the better was the fact that it wasn’t at a festival, it was something a little more intimate, but no less as outrageous.
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