Live review: Fishing, June 5 @ The Basement

Words by Scenewave Australia - Published on June 11, 2014

Sydney’s electronic duo Fishing, made up of Russell Fitzgibbon and Doug Wright, brought their A game for a sold out gig at Sydney’s The Basement for the launch of their long awaited album, Shy Glow. Joining them for the event were MELTY, Major Napier, and Polographia on support, and Champain Lyf DJs to round off the night.

Each and every act who performed on the night were really special, and were backed by some pretty crazy audiovisual projections from Electrofringe. Two projectors were set up on the night, forecasting live video, tie dye kaleidoscopes, black and white mirror images and more onto the stage. Add to this the noticeably intimate, almost claustrophobic backdrop of the revered city haunt The Basement,  the night was amazing from start to finish. All aspects combined created a unique atmosphere, the perfect accompaniment to the extremely talented electronic acts who performed on the night.

MELTY was first on the bill, followed by Major Napier. Next came Polographia, who took to the stage with additions including a full live drum-set, synths and tambourine. This live element always adds something truly special to alive electronic gig, and tonight was no exception. By this point of the night, the crowd had already had their fair share of chillwave/chillstep beats, but were hungry for more. It wasn’t long until the crowd were warmed up, and ready to take on the headlining act of the night: Fishing.

Considering that the event was launching their debut EP, it was particularly exciting that a number of special surprise guests on the nigh to lend their vocals to the tracks. Shy Glow features a number of guest vocalists over multiple tracks. These were among the strongest track of the album, and it was great that we were able to experience those live. Guests on the night included Marcus Whale of Collarbones who rapped along with the boys on Chi Glow, and Jonas Nicholls from Sures bringing his poppy vocals for Your Mouth.

The set at The Basement ran through pretty much the entire album throughout their set. Old favourite, (and crowd-pleasingt rack) OOOO dropped about halfway through the set, to huge applause and vigorous head bobbing from the relatively small, but passionately enthusiastic audience. Much like th eopening acts, Fishing’s entire set was supported by colourful and interesting projections thanks to some psychedelic, wild audio-visual projections. It was certain that the crowd could have endured (and enjoyed) at least another half hour, but the set ended up being one (totally solid) hour.

The final guest for the night came out for the final song – Lavum Lee of Guerre joined the group on stage, to perform closing track Racer.

For those who weren’t quite ready to go home, Champain Lyf DJs provided some sweet beats as the night came to a close.

All in all, Fishing played a fantastic one-hour set, and were supported by some seriously talented acts. And while the album launch was all killer no filler, the crowd was left wanting much more.

With Roger Ma

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