Miracle of miracles, a Melbourne band performing live in Sydney! Well, sort of. Relax Gladys, there hasn’t been a border breach. But post-punk antiheroes Total Control did storm the Opera House’s Joan Sutherland stage way back in the Beforetime, as part of Vivid Live 2018.
Now you get a chance to relive the madness thanks to the harbour icon’s excellent From Our House to Yours digital platform. The gig's retrieval from the vault turns your living room into a mosh pit. A pretty classy one, with the furiously good fivesome backed up by a mini-orchestra, including a violinist, clarinet-player and, for ‘80s realness, not one but two saxophonists. Including favourite tracks ‘Expensive Dog’ and ‘Flesh War’, the set got the crowd out of their seats and will have you leaping from the sofa too.
In an interview with the Opera House team before the gig, lead singer and synth player Daniel Stewart said the band kept each other on their toes. “We’ve been doing this for almost ten years, so we have a very good relationship creatively, where we’re able to still be adventurous, or just sound psycho and ridiculous and absurd, and keep pushing ourselves in that respect. We’re also really good at telling each other ‘no, don’t do that’ or ‘that’s going to sound good’, we have pretty good instincts still. You don’t want to start making garbage, and just be convinced by that mutual fear of saying no.”
You can tune into the 75-minute set on Friday, August 21 at 8pm or stream at your leisure.
Want to stream more Vivid bangers? Listen to Amon Tobin's ISAM.
