Concert review: The Observatory offers a brutal ballet

SINGAPORE — Believe it or not, but it has been 15 years since The Observatory first got together. And what a journey it has been.

From their first performance at Baybeats through to the release of its latest, eighth album, August Is The Cruellest earlier this month, the band has been through several changes in musical style and band members. But one thing has remained constant: Their ability to do a show that is both cerebral and visceral. It’s a brutal ballet, if you will.

Over the weekend, the quartet — Leslie Low, Vivian Wang, Cheryl Ong and Yuen Chee Wai — launched the new album to a rapturously appreciative audience who packed themselves into the Substation Theatre for two sold-out dates.

The band opened with a track from 2014’s Oscilla, Subterfuge, before reproducing most of the new album on stage. Despite the reputation of the band’s current heavy noisenik raison d’etre, there were enough psychedelic and hard rock references to suggest that the band do indeed keep their ear on the ground.

There were also moments where the ghosts of The Doors, Pink Floyd, the Jimi Hendrix Experience et al were summoned in the midst of the metallic assault on the senses in songs such as Wait For The Real Storm, A Ghost To You and You Have No Heart.

The beauty of The Observatory’s performance is that there are many ways to approach an analysis of why it appeals to a wide range of arts and music lovers. From impressionable youth to wizened veterans, all were united in soaking in the shock, awe and wonder that the performance evoked.

The visual element the quartet employed became a study in contrasts. From Yuen’s stoic posture to Wang’s rhythmic grooving, from Ong’s collected chaos to Low’s orchestrated Magus persona, The Observatory exuded a presence that extended beyond and the video presentation flashed on the wall behind the band provided embellishment to the conceptual thrust of the new album.

Sonically, the band demonstrated how its sound was never static with the music constantly evolving and adapting to new inspirations and directions. The lyrical sentiments thrown out by Low needed thoughtful consideration whilst a more immediate physical response was necessary to appreciate the beating and pounding rhythms and the deafening guitar squall.

Of course, one might quibble with the decision to close the main set with two covers (The Cure’s Fascination Street and Talking Heads’ Burning Down The House) considering the band’s rather large repertoire of original material.

The former seemed to be incongruous with the rest of the set, though the latter song fit in with the overall theme of the show.

Whatever the reservations, all was forgotten when the band encored with a blistering rendition of Accidentagram (from Catacombs) and everyone was sent home adrenalised and pleased to be witness to the continuing journey of one of Singapore’s foremost bands. Kevin Mathews