Live Review: Chet Faker

There are a few reasons why tonight is a big deal for Chet Faker (aka Nick Murphy).

Firstly, he is playing his first of five sold out shows for the week ahead. Secondly, he’s performing to a hometown crowd and, boy! are they keen to shower this year’s triple j Hottest 100 winner with some well deserved love and affection! Immediately there is a calm and positive energy radiating from Murphy as he opens with Cigarettes And Chocolate, hitting buttons and tweaking knobs, never missing a beat and sending excited shivers through the crowd. Murphy’s impressive opener is accompanied by an equally excellent light show. The flashing bulbs are so dramatic that a guy next to us retrieves sunglasses from his backpack to better enjoy the spectacle. While Murphy is obviously not new to covers, his rendition of Van Morrison’s Moondance stands in stark contrast from the original. The chorus is particularly excellent and is met with rapturous applause.

Tonight is not a one-man show: a guitarist and drummer play intermittently throughout the performance, freeing Murphy up to engage more with the crowd. This adds a richer overall live sound to tracks from Built On Glass. We are also digging Murphy’s newly acquired dance moves; the on-the-spot moonwalk is sure to be Australia’s next dancefloor craze. It’s not until we get to Murphy’s cover of No Diggity that everyone gets up out of their seats. The majority stay standing for a few songs but, to be honest, sitting back and taking in the performance as a whole is the best way to experience this show. Murphy takes a moment to explain his four-year-long career as an independent musician and thanks the crowd for supporting him so he could make the music he wanted to without selling out. Clearly, the man is doing something right with his soul-fuelled, mellow electro sound, as the crowd cheers in both the opening bars and closing moments of every song.

To Me is set up with Murphy looping his vocals live and it is a beautiful sight, producing sounds to match. Everyone rises once more for closer 1998 because, hey! who doesn’t love a good boogie? Murphy soon returns for an encore of Gold, Dead Body and Talk Is Cheap, where the crowd has their moment to sing back to Murphy in a token of appreciation.

Murphy certainly starts his Melbourne run on the right foot, with a wonderfully experimental and emotive first show that’s both dazzling and sincere. He proves that his exceptional production skills, clearly shown via his recorded work to date, can translate to a brilliant live performance.