“Melbourne, you give me a warm fuzzy feeling… ”.
Total Giovanni honed in on the restless feet of the patrons in the packed Croxton Bandroom on a balmy Thursday night in Melbourne. Arriving to the thumping selections of DJ Sarah and Kovacs, the room was packed wall to wall, and elevated in the bleachers, to move their bodies to Total Giovanni’s latest offering.
Euphoria, album name and apt description of the evening, proved a memorable display of dance music at it’s convergence with songwriting.
Giving the sound engineer for the evening an absolute work out. All levels were set for the hit-hat, kicks and snare drums to snap the crowd into action. The line at the bar was enough to reroute people back to the dance floor so everyone was aware of where their attention should sit.
Moving through songs in quick succession – enough time was able to land the refrain of Falling Away on the crowd. As the crowd bellowed “ You know that I did wrong”, hands were thrown in the air and shoulders made excellent vantage points to catch a glimpse of the chemistry that forged the bands presence in all directions.
The album’s translation on stage is flawless. Having only been released weeks prior – I could only imagine how much time the crowd may have given to digest the album before embracing it’s washes of psychedelia and echoing vocals in the pit of the Croxton. Melbourne’s fondness for nurturing home grown talent was met with appreciation.
Total Giovanni began their gigging careers embracing the stage as much the studio, blurring the experience you’d have in your headphones with what you would get with a night out. Letting the crowd know they used to frequent the area around Northcote and Thornbury, and the state of the Croxton from the years gone by, the marriage between music and community seemed as apparent as the bright lights in front of us.
Melbourne’s continuing appetite for the fruits of dance music production enable it to produce some of the best and widely influenced sounds on the market. The balearic melodies and soaring choruses are grounded by the tribalism of kick drums keeping everyone in time to be taken through the journey.
The band finished on the uncompromising deep house jam Akila, taking everyone through the jungle that they created over their hour holding down the bandroom – everyone receiving the signal to create the stampede under their feet. Two encores later and the familiar ringing of ears and wide smiles across faces – Total Giovanni left a considerable impression and a fine tracklist for the upcoming summer.
Review & Photographs by Nakul Vohra
melbourne press 