FLASHBACK to March 2012 — The Darkroom drew a solid crowd for a night devoted to chip-tune electronics, three local acts united by their fondness for repurposed gaming hardware and the aesthetic possibilities of lo-fi digital sound.
WAOTS — the project of Max Lequeux, the name a contraction of We Aeronauts of the Spirit — opened with a set built around Nintendo DS chip-tunes augmented with keyboards and vocals. Measured and introspective, Lequeux drew the room in at a steady simmer, easing the crowd into the electronics-heavy evening ahead.
Jos van Beek followed as Fauxhound, deploying a Game Boy as his lead instrument in a set of bright, punchy electro chip-tunes. Van Beek performed with infectious physicality — dancing around the stage and channelling an energy that pushed the crowd’s anticipation up several notches before the headliners took over.
$noregazZzm closed the night with a set of hip-hop-inflected electronica — exuberant and hard-hitting. Lisandru commanded the microphone with characteristic bravado while Dave Currie drove the beats. It would prove to be one of the duo’s last Christchurch shows, with Currie departing for overseas at the end of the tour.
WAOTS
Fauxhound
$noregazZzm
