Friday night was a comfortable evening for the crowd at the Forum Melbourne with some low key beats heading their way courtesy of Winston Surfshirt and guests. It was an exciting night at the Forum, with two guests, Jordan Dennis and Milan Ring to make it the perfect line-up for anyone who loved a little funk/hip-hop or electro vibe for their weekend.
Jordan Dennis and Milan Ring were the main guests at the Forum’s show, and much like Winston Surfshirt both acts focussed on cool vibes and some emotive beats, Milan Ring were the main openers and she certainly had the ‘cool beats’ part of her performance down pat, with rising electronic productions and some incredible vocalisation, Milan Ring brought the crowd alive before Winston and crew jumped on stage.
Making their way onto the stage to some funky beats, Winston Surfshirt made a quick impression to a bubbling crowd, seething for a boogie. They certainly delivered, the right mood for this, racing into “For The Record” and “For Real”. As usual, their music was light and never without a little funk with the full band spread across the full breadth of the stage, Winston was at his effervescent best, bumping about the stage throughout the set and consistently taking swigs from his Furphys and Galianno.
The set was filled with the six-piece groups usual suspects, as the wafting lo-fi tunes “Same Same”, “Make A Move”, “Ali D” and “Genie In A Bottle” became major staples of the set. The “Baked Goods” tour was somewhat a celebration of the band’s 2019 release, “Make A Move” and while the song definitely managed some love from the crowd, it was just great to see the group up on a stage as big as the Forum after all of the work and touring they’ve put in.
A highlight of the set came through Winston’s antics, walking off stage during the later part of the set as the rest of the crew jammed out on stage. Suddenly, Winston appeared at sound desk, crowd surfing back to the front of the stage to start singing the track, not only did this re-energise the stage presence, but added the expected pizzaz that Winston always brings to his performances.
The group closed on the ever popular “Be About You” and while this was an obvious choice for the closing number, it left everyone on a high leaving the theatre and in most cases heading to the after party.
