The main support for this night of pleasure-seeking was Andras Fox – essentially a boy DJing. Fox fulfilled his duty with consummate precision, offering a tasty mixture of good-vibes house and new age pop, which let punters acclimatise to the sort of taste twisting stipulated by the night’s headliners.
Melbourne’s darlings of champagne-pop Client Liaison make an easy target for criticism. You could dismiss them as siphons of nostalgia, merchants in unoriginality, a kitschy novelty or simply pose the pejorative question: ‘Is this a joke?’ But asserting any of these critiques suggests you’re approaching Client Liaison from a mistaken perspective.
First of all, to address the claim against the band’s originality: much like a good DJ, Client Liaison tells its story by invoking the sounds and aesthetic of pre-existing music. The major difference is that they combine it with a daring attention to production detail and an unrivalled embrace of performance values.
The latter became apparent as soon as front man Monte Morgan and keys/beats man Harvey Miller walked out clothed in bespoke office attire, which was beautifully complemented by the glass swan, potted aspidistras and symmetrically placed water coolers that decorated the stage. Morgan’s trench coat was swiftly removed to reveal a tan suit, and it was down to business. Of course, as the twosome worked through the night’s agenda, a series of costume changes were necessary. This eventuated in the unveiling of Morgan’s bare chest beneath a sequined midriff jacket.
Now, to assert that Client Liaison are embedded in the realm of kitsch would imply there’s a more authentic way to reapply this fluffy dance-pop – the sort that’s been cherished by cocktail-swigging yacht owners since the late 1970s. But surely their deadpan usurping of these sounds, delivered with requisite decorum and creepy sensuality, gets as close to the original essence-of-excess as possible. Either way, as soon as Morgan and Miller kicked into Free of Fear, large portions of the crowd were desperately singing along along to every damn word and nary a body in the room was left motionless.
Basically, all of the above criticisms could’ve been (and probably were) applied to the White Stripes when they first appeared. But as proven by that duo, it’s not about claiming inherent ownership over what one distributes. The art is in the ability to take from the past with such persuasiveness that it causes skepticism to dwindle, as nostalgia is eclipsed by genuine excitement.
Interestingly, Client Liaison has wielded its spell over many traditional rockists (i.e. haughty rock fans). Something rockists tend to struggle with is accepting humour in music. Sure, tonight’s event was as much theatre as it was the performance of a band, but the audience’s rapture wasn’t simply the result of this being a bit of a lark. Client Liaison dished out tangible glamour, which let everyone shed their fears and get acquainted with sheer pleasure.
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
Photo by Ian Laidlaw
Loved: Observing some particularly munted punters.
Hated: Some particularly munted punters.
Drank: Spumante, per me.
