Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Friday 6 March 2020
Reviewer : Louie Smith
We were two Hot Chip virgins sliding our way through a sea of bodies as the preen ‘Huarache Lights’ beamed over the Enmore Theatre. An excitable song cleverly placed elating the crowd as we prepared to dive deep into ‘a bath full of ecstasy’. With two decades of dance magic to choose from the British musos glitched out of ‘Huarache Lights’ and into the robotic skewed ballad ‘One Life Stand’.
Owen Clare dressed head to toe in white leaps back and forth behind his synth while Alexis Taylor rigidly thrusts as he spurts out his uniquely emotive deadpan vocals. As a whole the 5 piece and their extra touring members create a playful energy sucking the crowd into the mayhem they create with every off beat and melodic motif. The running synth and startling vocals of ‘Night and Day’ have everyone bloodthirsty until the addictive repetition of ‘Flutes’ hypnotises.
By now it’s clear Hot Chip are more than musicians but puppet masters. Taylor, Clare, Al Doyle and Rob Smoughton burst into a lyric driven march, demanding conformity until they release you. The atmospheric disco build up of ‘Hungry Child’ snapped us into euphoric bliss as one punter grabbed my hand and spun me in circles until dizzy laughter took over and ‘Boy From School’ caught me.
A cheeky game of musical instruments saw the guys swapping during almost every song except for Joe Goddard who in his bright blue jumpsuit stayed fairly stationary behind his hardware. Not even a stage diving punter could budge Goddard from his space.
Hues of blue shaded the stage as ‘Positive’ moved into interludey layers of sound. It was time for the historic high in all Hot Chip sets…the frenzy of ‘Over and Over’. By the time the chorus hit we’d all officially lost our minds. An unforgettable moment for us Hot Chips virgins.
Next minute we’re in a 80s cop drama with a cover of William Onyeabor’s ‘Good Name’. An unexpected but welcome place until the bubble bursts and we’re back in a euphoric state with ‘Melody of Love’. Every fibre of my being tingling with sparkling synths.
An encore of ‘Look At Where We Are’ allows us to collect our brains from the roof just in time for them to explode again as Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’ rips through the room. ‘I Feel Better’ concluding the show felt like being wrapped up in a warm blanket with no recollection of ‘how we got ourselves so lost’ yet overwhelmingly unified. An experience I’d kill to have again. (Not joking).