Live Review: Rufus, Bob Moses, Tora

The stage was warmed by Tora, Byron Bay locals who were picked up by RÜFÜS frontman Tyrone Lindqvist after he fell in love with their debut album.

Given this was the first night of the tour, it perhaps made sense that the four piece did not find their feet immediately. Their tepid performance set up an unfortunately recurring theme through the gig; the vocal level was too quiet to be heard over the rest of the band, which made it hard to appreciate their catchy chillwave tunes.

Tora were succeeded onstage by Bob Moses. The Canadian two-piece didn’t seem to mind that their sound was suboptimal and that the crowd were preoccupied awaiting the main event, and jammed to their own smooth electronic beats.

As the crowd waited for RÜFÜS to take the stage, an air of awaiting the start of a race pervaded the mosh. The anticipation of a robust dance workout had the crowd on edge. The set began with the enveloping banger, Brighter, which introduced us to the incredible energy of the drummer James Hunt who crouched over his kit in a power stance the entire set. The best drumming performance came in Look At Me Now, when Lindqvist abandoned his keyboard and came front and centre to sing into the heart of the crowd, leaving Hunt to offer a truly skilled drum solo.

It was the first time the boys had played Hypnotise in a live set and they brought along Deny Amy who laid down vocals on the record to sing. Unfortunately her vocals were also a little too quiet to hear.

RÜFÜS have made a trademark of immersive bass, for which they employ a live drum kit, electronic kit and melodic bass, played by Jon George. Sadly the bass could not be played at the volume it needed to take full effect. The Thebby was an interesting choice of venue, because of the obvious limitations on the sound, but also because of its raked seating that fills almost half of the venue, which is few people’s first at an electronic concert.

Despite the difficulties RÜFÜS gave a generous live adaptation of their new album with plenty of energy and delivered it all with a mesmerising light show.