Mat McHugh - Spiegeltent, Adelaide Fringe (Feb 22nd)

On his way across the country for his first tour supporting debut solo effort, ‘Seperatista,’ Mat McHugh (of Beautiful Girls fame) stopped through Adelaide with his band, The Blackbird. Soulshine was there to witness the gig under the banner of the Adelaide Fringe Festival, at the world-famous Spiegeltent, within the Garden of Unearthly Delights.

With four albums and endless tours under his belt as frontman of The Beautiful Girls, the enigmatic Mat McHugh turned a new page in 2008 with the release of solo record, Seperatista! A marked change from his band’s album prior, Seperatista! signified a return to the sounds of the Beautiful Girls of old with new, unique genre bending moments of stylistic quality nestled amongst them. With Mat McHugh at the front of the band, it genuinely could have taken on any form. And so, on February 22nd at the Famous Spiegeltent at Adelaide’s Garden of Unearthly Delights, Mat McHugh delivered a set that not only impressed, but fit the sound and performance like a worn in wetsuit.

Firstly, the venue. The Famous Spiegeltent is a mirrored tent built in the depths of Belgium in 1920. For almost ninety years, this very venue has seen both hemispheres countless times over, hosted comedians, musicians, circus performances and all manner of patrons from all walks of life. With mirrored pillars, stained glass windows and booths surrounding the edges of the venue, it’s a testament to modern shipping, with a carbon footprint the size of the Commonwealth. Outside the doors of this stunningly lit hut is the Garden of Unearthly Delights; Adelaide’s Rundle Park gone quirky. With cabaret performances aplenty, circus strongmen promoting their show and all manner of bars, colourfully lit trees and fairy lights, it’s visually splendorous. As for the most important sense of this review, we will turn our aural targeting system back to the Spiegeltent.

Mat McHugh strides upon the stage, followed by some very familiar looking faces. Sitting at the drums is Beautiful Girls drummer Bruce Braybrooke, and on bass, long-term Beautiful Girls producer, Ian Pritchett. Accompanied by keys and flooded with surreal blue light, the opening chords of ‘Under a Landslide’ from the solo album kick off the night. The show that follows is a mash of old and new, with Beautiful Girls tracks not left neglected. Favourites like ‘Music,’ ‘Periscopes,’ ‘Let’s Take the Long Way Home’ and ‘La Mar’ mingle amongst hallmark solo tracks ‘The Bottle’ and ‘It Isn’t Me.’ In typical McHugh fashion, each song from the back catalogue takes on a completely new look, drawn out vocals, dub flavours and keyboard interjections reveal a new side to these tracks just as they used to back in the early TBG days in front of a couple of hundred people at the local pub.

One of the most noticeable changes in the live show is what appears to be an absolutely revitalised, comfortable and happy Mat McHugh. Whereas the Beautiful Girls’ shows would see him sit silently behind his guitar between songs, this time around saw him bring out all sorts of stories, comments and admissions. He calls himself ‘the greatest jazz musician in the world’ after explaining his friend’s theory of carrying along with fuck-ups, as the more fucked they get, the more jazz it is. He follows this with a critique of encores, calling them a ridiculous custom before being a part of one himself to the line ‘surprised?’ It could be a sign of one of two things:

A)     Mat McHugh is in his comfort zone. This isn’t a ridiculous notion, in fact the performance is absolutely fantastic. He appears to be having as much fun as I’ve ever seen from an artist, feeling his way into songs and the intimate setting in a way that the Beautiful Girl’s huge sell-out gigs following the release of Ziggurats failed to provide. He jokes with his band mates, he jokes with the audience and he establishes a sing-along for his cover of Johnny Clegg’s classic ballad, Dela. Or;

B)      It is tour manger, Matty Woo’s birthday. This fact is true. The band has been drinking all day and Matty Woo is laughing at the back of the Spiegeltent. I suppose a bit of liquid courage never goes astray.

Regardless, the show is fantastic. In typical fashion, he introduces semi-covers as a part of other songs, bringing in ‘The Bottle’ with a short-lived Paul Simon intro. The Blackbird’s superb backing sits behind some very classy re-interpretations of some very good songs belonging to either of the Beautiful Girls or Mat McHugh. They pack as much good music into a strict one-hour set as you could possibly imagine. From crowd wide sing-along’s to patches of jigging to some of the more upbeat versions by the set’s back end, every tempo is touched and toyed with. Mat McHugh and the Blackbird present Adelaide with a show reminiscent of times past, with fresh and original undertones. The set-list is artfully arranged, the venue stunning and the music of extremely high calibre. If anything, the only criticism could be the occasional keyboard setting, which at times seems like it was switched to ‘Super Mario Brothers’ mode, but the rest of it holds up just fine.

Through four albums as a band and now a departure into new territory, it seems as though Mat McHugh has found his comfort zone. The music sounds as good as it ever has and the performance is tight, enjoyable and spot on. This is the version of the Mat McHugh brand of music that’s worth seeing while it’s been thrown around the country. If you get a chance to see the show, jump at it and get the best tickets you find. For old fans or new, it won’t disappoint and produce not much less than a very pleasant sensation in the depths of your ears.

(Photo: Piper Ferguson)