Pnau
Hordern Pavilion, Friday August 8.
By Jonathan Borger

Much has been written over the past ten months about Pnau’s incredible return to form. The Sydney duo (Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes) have, since releasing their eponymous third album in late 2007 received critical and commercial success both for the album and the amazing live show with which they are touring. They have, it seems, played non-stop this year, including major festivals and thus, at the Hordern last Friday, the Pnau party continued on the Sydney leg of the ‘Embrace Australia’ tour.

Despite the fact I’ve been a fan of Pnau’s work for several years, I have to admit that I have now seen them live more times this year than ever before (that’s 3 to 1, for anyone who’s interested). Jaded fans who like bands ‘before’ they were ‘popular’ are, we all know, the bane of many people’s existence – although let’s not forget they do sometimes have a point – for myself though, in the case of Pnau, I have been really impressed by the types of people they have won over and their newfound mega-popularity (perhaps the milk commercials were a bit much, but lets look past that). I believe in many cases, new Pnau fans haven’t just been impressed by the record, but more importantly by the live show they’ve stumbled into with a fan/friend – yes, it’s just that much fun.

Which brings us back to the Hordern Pavilion.. After months of touring, everyone has become aware of the hype surrounding the live spectacle, and thus the fun of Pnau begins before they even do, with anticipation of the oversized dancing ‘characters’ (sun, dove, lightening, diamond, skull, heart, did I miss one?... oh yes, strawberry). Believe the hype. The characters are glorious and colourful and everything you’d expect from what has been oft described as an acid trip. As I arrived at the show, the group I was with predictably began talking about the characters. Someone mentioned the fact that people inside the costumes were often competition winners or friends of friends of the band. The characters took on a whole new life for me, as I now decided to keep a close eye on them and their moves throughout – it added another element to the show.

Now obviously this review can’t go by without mentioning the music. Every song from PNAU got an excellent reception (as did the handful they played from their previous releases). Pnau’s concert set up consists of live drums, Mayes on guitar/synths and Littlemore as the enigmatic front man, tearing around the stage, often shirtless, a bandana holding back his now much longer hair and a variety of necklaces and ornaments draped over his chest. Littlemore live is all about the grand spectacle – coupling this image with his big vocals and screams and outstretched arms during musical breaks. The sound being produced was also up to his enormous levels. There were moments, particularly during ‘No More Violence’, were I was pleasantly surprised to find myself thinking the venue’s roof might actually lift off. Giant screens behind the band projected snippets of lyrics so that everything became a sing along. This was a very simple way to further hype up the excited crowd, and was particularly effective for ‘Lover’ and ‘Come Together’.

However, nothing quite topped ‘Embrace’ for anthemic value. After a few moments silence, just as the crowd was becoming restless, Littlemore announced that he wanted to introduce a special guest and hysteria reigned again. No one needed to be told that Pip Brown aka Ladyhawke was to arrive at the mic and reproduce the vocals she lay down for the track. This was certainly the show’s climactic point.

When Pnau eventually left the stage, nobody was under any illusions that they wouldn’t return – they hadn’t played ‘Wild Strawberries’. After a relatively lengthy pre-encore break, they returned to perform what is becoming a trademark extended version of their hit. All the characters were out on stage (still under my watchful, fascinated eye) as a part of a visual feast, with the (wild) strawberry of course front and centre… until it fell off the front of the stage. My heart went out to the poor person in the suit, although it was a perfect monument to the mayhem of not only this track but also the entire performance. Rather than go out on the massive, anticipatory high that was ‘Wild Strawberries’, Pnau decided, interestingly, to close with ‘With You Forever’. Whilst it’s a solid song, it did perhaps leave the crowd feeling a little less buoyant than they could have been, although by no means should that take away from what was once again a fun, happy, exciting night of Australian dance music.