Broods, Moby Rich @ Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide 22/5/2019
First up tonight was Moby Rich from Los Angeles USA. Maxwell Joseph and Connor Pledger formed Moby Rich in 2015 and sing every song in unison and it sounds great. They were really chuffed that just a couple of guys could come all the way from the USA just to play their music to us. They play quirky alternate pop like “Yoko Ono” their first release which has over 1.5 million listens on Spotify. They have wonderful energy and seemed very happy to play for us. They did a great cover of Weezer’s Say It Ain’t So. Their recorded songs utilise a drum machine but tonight they brought a drummer and to me, this is usually more effective for a live setting. The crowd certainly enjoyed them and I can see them coming back here one day to perform at a festival in the future.
Next up was the NZ sister/brother combo of Broods. Every other time I have seen them in the past it has just been Georgia and Caleb Nott on stage but tonight we had two extra musicians playing drums, keyboards and guitar. Broods quite deservedly keep building their fan base around the world and in Australia, it exploded with their brilliant song Peach hitting number 19 on Triple J’s hottest 100 for 2018. That song is the reason why this concert is at Thebarton Theatre instead of The Gov. They have supported some huge acts like Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding, and Two Door Cinema Club to name a few.
This tour is to promote their excellent album called Don’t Feed The Pop Monster which is an album that sounds better with each listen. Tonight they play every one of the twelve songs on the album and I for one could not be happier about that as it is a great album
The first song is the heavy synthesisers of Sucker. Georgia’s vocals are already in full force from the get-go. Her singing voice is glorious and she sings which such passion. Her dance moves remind me of the Danish Singer MØ and she keeps up the funky moves all night. She is well supported by her multi-instrumentalist brother Caleb and the band but I find that Georgia is the superstar tonight. The band gets on with playing and there is not a lot of banter between the songs which suits me.
Early highlights were a house/samba/Brazilian influenced Everytime You Go and an absolute killer track called Eyes a Mess which is a sort of a Moroder-esque epic cover of two Gotye songs merged together. I would love to hear her do a duet of this with Gotye. This song was released after Peach but for some reason not put on the latest album. Broods showcase several styles tonight. I can hear New Order like bass in some songs and Chvrches like synthpop in others. Caleb takes on a lead vocal with Too Proud and shows he has a great rap voice.
Early songs like LAF and Bridges got huge cheers from the crowd. Free with its catchy chorus, quirky beats and incredible vocal performance from Georgia was another highlight as was Dust from the new album, a great song. The funky Hospitalised and Old Dog lifted the tempo towards the end of the set and showcased some terrific guitar riffs. Peach ended the set and it was the song that everyone wanted to hear. It was my favourite selection in my Triple J Hottest votes and it sounded brilliant tonight. Broods came back out quickly and ended the concert with the heavenly synthpop of Couldn’t Believe. I look forward to seeing them again soon.
Live Review By Richard De Pizzol