MØ @ Metropolis Fremantle
w/ DUCKWRTH
Thursday, May 9, 2019
It was the first year that, as an ‘adult’, I decided not to attend Bunbury’s Groovin the Moo for a weekend away that usually begins with a temperamental autumn day and ends in a dewy tent on a sodden campfield. Alas, you can imagine my relief when Scandi pop star MØ graced us with a sideshow at Metros Freo.
The main room had been sectioned off so you couldn’t see how much of the venue could actually be filled but those that were there were a surprisingly mature bunch and totally vibing the unusual support of DUCKWRTH. They were akin to a bit of Brockhampton, a bit of EARTHGANG and a bit of J.Cole with banging energy. The bassist slapped hard with her grooving vibe and DUCKWRTH – know to his mum as Jared Lee – jumped and jumped on stage. The heavier songs like Fallback got the janitor’s outfit rolled down and the abs out while Michuul. set a way more relaxed vibe. Checking out their discography after the gig showed a super impressive variety of music and the question of ‘when are they really going to break the Australian market?’
After a drawn-out wait for our headliner, some tall palms appeared on the screens in the back, giving off a LA/ Malibu vibe before MØ emerged in that HAT! I can’t even explain it, but it just had a brim so wide that it flopped around with her as she danced to Purple Like the Summer Rain. Her live band were so in sync, the synth/ drum pad sample guy was super busy and her voice was rich and so close to everything we’ve listened to recorded. I’m admitting that I have watched a youtube video or two where she hasn’t quite hit the right pitches but this night’s vocals were just infallible. I kept trying to catch her synching to Kamikaze but she quickly and quietly put that suspicion to rest when she jumped into the crowd and danced and sung with everyone there. She dressed like the 90s cool mum with bulky joggers and an oversized jumper sporting ‘Braindead’ and ‘postmodern primitive thought’ and I wondered if the Danes ever aged.
Right up until Get it Right she hadn’t stopped moving, smacking and knocking her head in artistic expression and throwing herself across the stage. “In Danish, we call Thursday, ‘little Friday’ and so this is Red Wine,” she said, and with an insanely similar chord progression to Pendulum’s Tarantula, she went right through that crowd to the sound desk and downed a glass of wine atop a platform.
A beautiful a cappella version of Nights With You was followed by Blur, that frustratingly reminds me of a rock song from the early 2000s that just sits on the tip of my tongue. There was a bit more of an autotune aspect but it worked and added to this sense of release as she tore down the white sheets in ecstasy. As she began to wrap up, her Like A Version cover of Dominic Fike’s 3 Nights was good and we were reminded that she is actually human when she forgets the words and says “Fuck, stop” to start again. Ending in perfection she finished poignantly with Don’t Leave to raucous applause.
MIA CAMPBELL-FOULKES
Photos by Linda Dunjey
