Live Review: Golden Vessel w/ Taj Ralph @ The Foundry 03.02.2018
‘A room full of friends’ is the best way to describe the first leg of Golden Vessel’s Right Side Tour in Brisbane on Saturday night. That is no surprise though, since the producer hails from the river city. Golden Vessel’s engaging and intimate set filled The Foundry with warm tingly vibes.
Sitting pretty in the midst of summer is the venue’s reputation for good solid air-con and putting an ice-cold drink in hand. As the venue began to fill, and we felt that familiar comfortable proximity from those folks around us the floor was ripe for main support and Triple J Unearthed artist Taj Ralph. Bringing a whole lot of Tash Sultana vibes to his set, we were treated to some luscious loops and voracious vibes. With an array of pedals, keyboards fanned out in front and a guitar around his neck Taj seemed to be lost in his own brand of ‘Taj-wave’. Soon enough the crowd was grooving in unison to this breezy neo-soul – Think Hiatus Kaiyote. At the end of his second last track, a punter spontaneous proclaimed, “this is siiiick.” Yes it was, guy. Yes it was.
After the standard break and anticipation, Golden Vessel hit the stage, accompanied by Brisbane artist and friend Emerson Leif. Both were greeting with welcoming cheers from the hometown crowd. He opened his set with track Cylinder Snow off his latest EP ‘Right/Side’. The set featured a handful of new and unreleased tracks including Bigbright, ‘Moonstone and Dizzy. Early in the set, we were treated to a bangin’ mix up of his original song Wave combined with Frank Ocean’s Chanel. The producer brought a super chill presence to the stage whilst maintaining a tight set, combining live vocals and fresh beats.
Fans would know that Golden Vessel collabs are prolific and welcome. It was no surprise that Golden Vessel brought along good friend and frequent contributor Emerson Leif with him. Leif appears in an assortment of tunes produced by the Brissy Local. The duo paired up on almost, if not every song performed, with the pair seamlessly rag teaming synths and drum pads throughout the night. Each track of the night featured a mesmerising and surreal video following a different unspoken story. But it was all there in music, which complemented this perfectly. Also there was a synth block setup that lit up when he hit it. Cool stuff. The warm close-knit vibes were reinforced when Golden Vessel handed out a disposable film camera to the crowd and requested them to take a few photos. Having taken a few selfies myself I really hope it made it back okay.
Before the start of one his popular tracks the producer talked the crowd through the origins of the loops used in the chorus—a 7/11 bell sound from Hong Kong. Its always a nice touch when producers let us in on these artistic tid-bits. The 11 song set closed with Shoulders. The whole room perked up, and it was only a minority of fans in the room not singing along to the enjoyable and upbeat track. Featuring Mallrat (whose part was performed by Emerson), the tune was a perfect way to close out the set. If you’re a fan of Glass Animals or The Kite String Tangle, I promise that Golden Vessel will be pleasing to your ears.
