Mike Hadreas (A.K.A Perfume Genius) will never be a half-measure performer, and it was especially brilliant seeing him perform in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall this week.
The setlist opened with ‘In a Row’, ‘It’s a Mirror’, ‘Left for Tomorrow’. Pretty quickly, the sound was overtaken by the strangest of sights. Hadreas moved like a burlesque-performing worm, squirming, collapsing, and folding himself into a rotating chair before spilling onto the floor. At one point, he dragged himself to the lip of the stage and hung there, upside down, locking eyes with the front row. It sounds ridiculous written down, though in the moment, it was completely gripping, and no one could look away.
If I hadn’t witnessed this same concert hall come alive to electric contemporary jazz, or even heavy prog-metal (just a few weeks ago) I would have insisted the room felt wrong for this kind of performance. Everyone stayed seated, posture intact, on their best behaviour (this is the Opera House after all), though their attention strained forward. You could feel the collective urge to stand, to lean in, to get closer as Hadreas rolled around in the dust, leaving everyone aghast and in awe.
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