MC Lars - Edgar Allen Poe EP Tour

The night starts off at The Den, The Civic Hotel’s offering to the local music scene. The place is suitably small and nearly empty when I arrive, save for the first support band Faim setting up their gear and Mc Lars himself chilling out in the corner with fans, energetically discussing topics such as the local music scene and quokkas over boxes of Chicken Treat. This scene frames the entire night for me; friendly and intimate. Mc Lars stands front row centre for his support bands, watching with rapt attention and congratulating both on their performances afterward. He states later that; “I have no fans in Perth, only friends.” It’s all a welcome change from pretentious international acts, hiding backstage and limiting contact with fans to hurried, half hearted autographs and a few words. 

5 piece Faim kick the night off with entertainingly high energy antics and the surprising mix of the powerfully theatrical yet clean vocal stylings of frontman Noah Skape against simplistic, 70s/80s dirty punk-rock. Noah’s stage presence calls to mind figures such as Freddie Mercury, all eyes in the room are focused on him as he catapults through the crowd, poses on top of amps, somersaults, performs Charlie Chaplin impressions between songs and generally does everything except actually singing from the stage. The rest of the band create great contrast, although similarly interesting to view (the drummer’s hair is a shade of toxic green and the token female bass player is suitability cute and indie) the static backdrop they create accentuates the interest created by the frontman notorious for stripping off his clothes and destroying instruments during gigs.

10 past 6 are on first impression, quite a typical Australian pub rock act. However, their meat and potatoes approach to hard rock is livened up with boundless energy and charisma which certainly got the venue going. With a boyish charm, they powered through their set stopping only to discuss playing older songs, banter with the crowd and share the single delay pedal that they owned.  After reaching the top 8 (out of 60) in a battle of the bands competition at the Rockingham Hotel earlier this year and with a self titled EP set to be released later this month, these are four boys to watch out for. 10 past 6 are continuing their ‘Flying High’ Australian tour this month with shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. 

Finally the headliner, rapper MC Lars took to the stage armed with his Mac laptop, homemade animations, a cocky, confident swagger and tracks sampling artists including Goyte, Teagan and Sara, Zebrahead and Iggy pop. His interesting new approach to music involves literature inspired hip hop which he calls lit-hop. Through his background as a 19th century literature major in college Lars tackles literary bigwigs such as Moby Dick; Ahab, and even Shakespeare; Hey there, Opelia, in his songwriting. The entirety of his new Edgar Allen Poe EP is similarly based on the poetry of Poe, taking on an educative role with lyrics which explain the fundamental mechanics of rhyme in a poetical sense through the form of modern day hip hop in the song Floe like Poe. Rather than standing at a gig, the feeling is created of being in class with the world’s coolest English teacher. 

The show is rife with audience participation, Lars makes the usual requests; hands in the air, jump ect but also brings out a raven puppet, featured in the music video for his song Floe like Poe which needs to be operated during Mister Raven and freestyles at one point about items found in the collective pockets of the crowd. It’s moments like this which reinforce the sense of frivolity prevalent through the whole set. Lars never seems to take himself too seriously; his songs poke fun at the music industry and popular culture in songs such as Hipster girl and Signing Emo, and even sci-fi with the darker Lars attacks.  The set is finished off with the popular single Download this song, a top 30 hit in Australia back in 2006 which seems to be the favourite of the night judging by the reaction from the crowd. MC Lars Edgar Allen Poe EP tour continues with dates over east and is definitely one to check out for tongue in cheek fun with a hip hop flair. 

by Alexandra Baker

Check out the photos on our Facebook page, courtesy of Chris Webster Photography.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.493519654005399.128005.248203365203697&type=1