RÜFÜS DU SOL finished up their most recent national tour on the weekend, with two massive back to back shows on the Saturday and Sunday. We were lucky to enough to make it to the Riverstage in Brisbane for a cheeky Sunday session, to see RÜFÜS DU SOL lay it all down one final time.
Queensland locals, Lastlings opened up the nights festivities with their electronic pop beats. Signed to RÜFÜS DU SOL's owned label Rose Avenue, Lastlings act as a perfect musical companion piece to RÜFÜS DU SOL. Lead singer Amy's vocals are simply made for the genre. Her super dreamy, silky smooth vocals are the linchpin of their sound, combining seemingly effortlessly with their bass and drum heavy hooks.
Their signing to Rose Avenue has led to the recording of new music, which was a large feature of their set. Keep an ear out for the likes of 'Out of Touch', 'Take My Hand' and 'I’ve Got You'.
Lastlings rounded out their set with single 'Deja Vu', an infectious number, elevated by some super sexy high pitch synths in the hook. Give this a listen to get a taste of things to come. You can feel that RÜFÜS DU SOL influence in this track. A showcase of new music as much as an opening act, Lastlings are sure to have built up plenty of hype in preparation for the release of their debut record.
Next up was another Rose Avenue signatory, Cassian, an electronic producer based out of Sydney. Cassian was for the large part a one man show, using a combination of live instrument layering along with some pre-recorded components.
Putting Cassian on after Lastlings was the wrong decision. Cassian put in a good effort with a multi-instrumental performance, but a single performer with pre-recorded vocals can only do so much. Especially when they are being compared to the big live act that came immediately before them.
Fans of his though would have been pleased though; as he performed his largest tracks live, including ‘Know U Well’.
The end of the performance was elevated, with Amy from Lastlings coming on stage to provide vocals for ‘Same Things’. Hopefully Cassian can add additional band members on his next tour, as I believe reducing the pre-recording will add a lot to his live show.
Cassian has a debut album coming, expected to drop sometime this year.
RÜFÜS DU SOL isn't the first band I've seen ignore the set times. But they may be the first headliner I have seen who have decided to start 10 minutes early instead. RÜFÜS DU SOL came out in classic electronic fashion, steeped in a deep veil of smoke, strobe lights pulsing behind them, a low hum reverberating over the speakers. In the fog they waited as the anticipation in the crowd grew.
Then the strobe lights exploded, pulsing so fast I may have permanent damage to my retinas. And RÜFÜS DU SOL exploded too, blasting into 'Eyes', off their third and latest album Solace.
Then it was a jump back to Innerbloom for the funkier, upbeat 'Like An Animal'. This was the shape of the set for evening, a mix of the biggest hits from both Innerbloom and Solace. A cheeky cover of 'Everything In Its Right Place' also made an appearance about midway through, a personal fave of mine originally performed by none other than Radiohead.
Their hit single 'Treat You Better' got a spin, with the band dedicating this emotive track to "all the lovers" in the crowd.
Surprisingly absent were any tracks from their debut record Atlas.
Special mention has to go to the stage production for the lights and the huge backdrop screen. The visuals were mesmerizing, with signature displays for each of the different tracks.
The real fan moment came when 'Innerbloom' came on. RÜFÜS DU SOL played it all, an almost 10 minute sonic journey. The slow intro, the progressive buildup of audio elements, the haunting vocals and those big moments were the beat is pulsing. It was all there.
And in the midst of it all, the phones rose up over the crowd, a sea of lights illuminating all of us. It was like how the lyric goes, "It feels like I'm dreamin'."
It was all closed out with 'Another Life', to bring the set full circle. But that left the encore and it was going to be all Solace. And some of my personal faves off Solace too. I believe 'Lost In My Mind' and 'No Place' both really capture the essence of the album, so, I was delighted that these were the final, lasting songs of the set.
The Solace tour may be over in Australia, but it continues on around the world. So, if you are bold traveler, get out there and catch RÜFÜS DU SOL on a different continent. I'm sure they sound almost as good anywhere else.