Live Review: Rufus, Movement, Kilter

With The Tivoli taking a while to fill out, Kilter started the night off with a tough challenge ahead of him: to play to a half empty and distracted room, and make himself the sole focus. And with his fun charisma bouncing through every step and beat, and his swish electronic stylings, Kilter soon held the audience in a stranglehold. Although keeping you glued to his set, Kilter managed only to simmer, never quite reaching a boiling point frenzy. A seemingly experimental and impromptu collaboration with Citizen Kay brought a signature hip hop swagger to the mix and, for a brief moment, sparked imitated dancing from the growing crowd. But greater audience engagement, which this crowd seemed hungry for, could have served the up-and-comer well.

After a surprisingly short set for Kilter, again the lights dimmed and three young men walked on stage, leaving many unsure if this was, all too suddenly, the main act. But no, it was just Movement. Although an undeniably talented group with chilled keyboards and perfectly smooth vocals, Movement were, well, kind of a dud. Lacking the energy and spirit to fuel a Saturday night, Movement sent people back to meaningless chit-chat or Facebook while they waited their set out. Performing more a lullaby-laden soundtrack to a dream, Movement were quite unimpressive, with predictable melodies and slowed backbeats of no further help.

In this case, a thankfully quick set from the Sydney group meant the main act was just around a corner, leaving the audience with the challenge to again get pumped up. Alcohol seemed to rescue some, as several took up free-spirited dancing to Hall & Oates as their song came over the stereo system.

The lights dimmed and this time the crowd roared.  From the darkness of the stage beamed an introductory light show, setting the scene for an otherworldly performance. One by one, Rufus entered the stage – you could only just make out each mysterious figure behind the blackened smoke. Opening with the slick keys of Sundream, Rufus quickly lived up to their indie-darling status as the contradictorily mellow yet brimming audience let themselves go with every groove and grind.

Demanding some love during Rendezvous (“be my lover”), the crowd all too happily obliged, as shoulders became choice seating and shirts were stripped to reveal bare, sweaty chests. At this point, Rufus knew the power they held – something of extraterrestrial proportions. Cooler than cool lead singer Tyrone Lindqvist threw his used and empty plastic water bottle into the animalistic crowd, resulting in a fight for a piece of trash, while bandmate Jon George tried his hand at crowd surfing.

Masters of the art of live performance, Rufus built the crowd up with each tantalising pulse only to send them crazy with anticipation for the next palpable drop as Tonight and Take Me transformed The Tivoli into a pounding, deep-house dance party. Performing through their charmingly-crafted Atlas album, taking you from the rim of the Pacific to the edge of Pluto, Rufus proved the perfect balance between adventure and mystery, and perpetuated the magic of the unknown.