Gotye’s got it.
by Mark
Gotye’s currently over taking the airwaves all over the world, or so it seems. “Somebody that I used to know” is catchy in a different way, and once that song has lodged itself into your brain chances are it’s going to be hard to remove it. He managed to snag the #1 spot in several countries on this side of the Atlantic, and when I got word he was coming over for some concerts in 2012, I jumped at the chance to get tickets to one of his shows.
The first I ever heard of him was about half a decade ago through an uptempo song entitled “Learnalilgivinanlovin”. It channels a Motown-like vibe, and is unlike the other songs on the album.
His latest album (Making Mirrors) was proving to be quite a hit outside his home country Australia, and Wally de Backer aka Gotye (pronounced the same way as “Gaulthier”, the French designer) decided to put a band together to start touring. Gotye played three shows in three different cities in The Netherlands, and all were sold out.
A young British lady called Gabrielle Aplin opened the show: all of a sudden there she stood in the left corner of the stage with her guitar. Besides her own material, she played a cover, too (Lana Del Rey’s “Video games) accompanying herself on the piano. Halfway through the song she got a terrible coughing fit, and I felt sorry for her. You don’t want that to happen to any singer, right? She apologized and told the audience she was “a bit ill”. Musically, it wasn’t completely my cup of tea, but I sure give her an A for performing while being sick.
Gotye kicked off the February 17th show with “Eyes wide open”, and played almost all the songs off his last album.
I’m a bit of a music nerd, so – in case you’re interested – I got that evening’s setlist:
Eyes wide open
The only way
Easy way out
Smoke and mirrors
State of the art
Thanks for your time
Don’t worry, we’ll be watching you
Somebody that I used to know
Save me
Heart’s a mess
Bronte
In your light
I feel better
Learnalilgivinanlovin
The one song that gave me goosebumps was “Bronte”. Gotye announced it as a “quiet song”, and after some hushing sounds from some audience members to make people stop talking, it was quiet in the venue. A huge white screen in the background was showing a beautifully animated clip to accompany the song. Those of you who have the album with the DVD have seen it. If you haven’t, look it up on YouTube, and you won’t be disappointed. Really. Enjoy.
