Last night marked the very final night of Art vs. Science’s album tour for Off The Edge Of The Earth and Into Forever, Forever. As expected, the three-piecey really gave it all for their closing show, filling the stage and venue with energy, sweat and brighter-than-stars pyrotechnics.
With around an hour and a half set on stage, so we couldn’t sprint the first lap and burn out too quickly, the band reiterated that an Art vs. Science show is about the marathon, not the first lap. This made KLP the perfect support act to warm audiences up. Her mellow tunes and oddly satisfying drumbeats was a great way to ease into it.
This was all before The Triffid became a sweat-fest. That’s the trouble when you convert an old air hangar into a raving music venue. There’s not much opportunity for cool air. At least mentally crowds cooled off when AVS returned for an encore performance of “Flippers”, but we’re jumping ahead here.
The evening started off with a trio of great showmen, keeping it light and fun with “Chosen One” and “A.I.M Fire”. The fact that they play live with all their instruments rather than slipping back into primarily DJ sets is refreshing and fantastic for a live show. But fans will be fans, and it was hits like “Magic Fountain” that sent the crowd in a tailspin. Some of the crowd had even prepared props in advance, ready for “Parlez-Vous Francais?” with mime masks and gloves, coincidentally another song that was born to be played live.
“In This Together” took the room into a realm of science fiction and fun beats. One thing we learnt if anything that night was Art vs. Science takes their build-ups seriously. Keeping you on edge until it seems like they’re never going to start the song. If they were so inclined they could take a turn for the rock and roll too. They proved that with their cheeky cover of “Sandman” by Metallica.
Naturally, they ended up topless and the boys and girls lapped it up. The whole show was a series of ups and downs, crowd chitchat and flowers being thrown around. There didn’t seem to be many things that could make it a better closer for the tour, other than perhaps gulping down the fresh air when the crowd spilled out of the venue at last.
Undoubtedly, the album and tour won’t keep fans satisfied for long. But at least we can bask in it for now, and look forward to their third album hopefully sooner rather than four years later.
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