The sound of British accents flutter through the air in the queue outside the little known, but seemingly chic venue The Substation in Newport, an industrial brick building which turns out to be perfect for the Melbourne Festival show tonight; the double bill of Mess: Live and Robbie Thomson.
The sign outside the performance doesn’t lie: people with pacemakers are advised not to attend, and with good reason. Both shows are incredibly intense, heart pumping and all-consuming, and by the look on most of the punters faces, the technicalities are way over their heads, but the end result is visually and aurally stunning.
Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio, or MESS, is like a tower of controllers, knobs, synthesisers and all the other equipment and electronic instruments which would make a technology-nerd drool with delight. The two masterminds behind MESS, Byron Scullin and Robin Fox, saunter casually but intently around the tower, twiddling knobs, and making their craft look effortless, but sound amazing. The result sounds akin to Kraftwerk and Orbital, echoing noises from the depths of other galaxies, heavy bass and high pitched squeals. If you are quivering with delight at the sound of this, see it for yourself – Scullin and Fox are making all of this equipment available to the public for a yearly membership fee.
The crowd is hushed while waiting for the headline act, Glasgow-based artist Robbie Thomson. Crowding around an inanimate Tesla-coil inside a cage, it is hard to imagine the intensity that is to follow. Electric volts jolt out violently from the coil, with ear-deafening, dramatic electronic sounds accompanying them. Lights flash over different parts of the cage, creating speckles, grids and strobes. In one heart-stopping piece, the sounds of sirens burst out with bright yellow spotlights lighting up the cage. The show is part reminiscent of a late night at a club, and part futuristic/other worldly. With Robbie Thomson’s show, the possibilities of combining light and sound seem endless.
