Live Review: David Liebe Hart

A small but enthusiastic crowd gathered at Jive on Thursday night to see a full line-up of, what we will loosely refer as mixed artists, featuring comedian Rohan Harry, Purple Johnson Blimp Situation, Mandek Penha, St Morris Sinners and headlining the night from the USA, David Liebe Hart and Jonah Mociun.

St Morris Sinners took to the stage early in the night with an entertaining and highly charismatic performance. The cow-punk (yes that is a genre believe it or not), blues and rock-based eclectic sound of these eastern suburban heretics was an early crowd pleaser.

Looking like a longhaired Ian Curtis and sporting a Movember porn star moustache, the gesticulating, animated, audience-wandering, stage-humping, photographer-hugging lead singer Stephen Johnson was a somewhat bizarre but entertaining novelty. While the rest of the band played a solid set and remained stage bound, not unlike The Who's Entwhistle balancing Townsend or Moon, Stephen's crowd interactions led to much spilled beer, Doc Marten prints and the occasional crowd sit in. With songs re-telling the torment of BFBF - Big Fucking Blow Flies - and The Gun Club-esque soundscape St Morris Sinners set the tone for the night.

A quick stage change and the Lord Mandek Penha was sheepishly announced. A prerequisite of the Lord was a crowd name chant and a rather odd film was projected on the stage back drop, setting the mood. The self-professed leader of the Church of Sarrean Alignment, Lord Mandek Penha appears on stage to a cheer as a seemingly confused cross between Alex of Clockwork Orange and a long forgotten backstage audition for TISM (This Is Serious Mum). Opening with When I Touch My Leg and gesticulating excitedly across the stage, this reviewer stood transfixed yet somewhat perplexed by what he saw before him.

Talk of aliens and higher beings and making members of the audience bring glass after glass of water to be consumed and naming it the stage "water sports", left us questioning the OHS of live leads with copious amounts of spilled water, and wondered subsequently exactly which missing ninth planet Lord Mandek had actually materialised from.

Along with the rest of the momentarily silenced crowd, that were obviously stunned by the pure and radiant "awe-ness-ness" of the Lord Mandek Penha, we unfortunately struggled to make that higher connection. Obviously our My Favourite Martian antennae or tin foil hat wasn't of the correct density to make that leap of faith.

The final act David Leibe Hart accompanied by a keyboard playing (computer keyboard stuck on a guitar frame) Jonah Mocius received a warm welcome as they took to the stage. Hart, dressed in a white boiler suit that would make Buster Bloodvessel proud, proceeded to proclaim his love for Adelaide and Mocius, wearing a platinum blonde wig and flora jacket, set the beats with a form of eclectic electronica.

Hart talked more of aliens, then mentioned something about trains that was lost in translation with the true meaning to peace in our time. At this stage we were forced to double check the gig flyer and assure ourselves we hadn't inadvertently stumbled into an AAA (Alien Abduction Anonymous) meeting because it was really starting to get weird. Hart and Mocius continued to play an interesting set sprinkled with spoken word and tom-tom synth beats to the audience's delight. All in all, an entertaining if not rather sublime night of comedic rock, aliens and divinity for an Easter celebration.