For the past six weeks, Hermitude have been touring their latest album, Dark Night, Sweet Light, across Australia and New Zealand. Last night the electronic duo went out with a bang at The Studio in Auckland.
Formed by Aussies, Luke Dubber and Angus Stuart, the post-dubstep act packed the venue wall-to-wall as they laid down throbbing bass and sharp synth sequences, kicking off their hour long set close to midnight.
The Studio quickly turned into a swelling sea of people, moving like waves in time to the music. People clapped and cheered, jumped and swayed, pumping their hands in the air as each song went on - giving themselves over to the sound.
Strobe lights pulsated as Hermitude played a blend of new and old tracks. A screen behind the DJ desk showed close-ups of Dubber working the synthesisers and Stuart hitting the drum machines, before switching to animated creatures, kaleidoscopic smoke and entrancing aerial views of a beautiful coastline.
It would have been easy for Hermitude to just hit a few buttons and twist a few knobs, but the duo were set out to prove they were making their music live. The musicality between the two was incredibly tight - Stuart scratching a vinyl as Dubber let his fingers run wild across a keyboard. At one point the two came out from behind the desk, to the front of the stage for a mini-jam on a key-tar and beat-making machine.
