A fortunate few gathered at Brisbane's What's Golden on Thursday (12 June) to be wowed and amazed by the wonderful, the talented, the incredible, MonoNeon.
MonoNeon entered – textbook dressed to the nines in his knitwear and neon colours. With his custom-branded neon shiesty, bass strap, boots, whammy pedal and bass guitar. All labelled with his name and steeze.No words were spoken as we jumped face first into the swimming pool of 16th notes and fast-paced funky action.
Mono, with as many licks as a dog and a water bowl, played that bass like it was too hot to touch! If I was musically trained, I would have been in awe of the theatrics and cleverness, but even naive ole me had that body shaking with a lot of 'oOh! Uh! Mmm!' as I was constantly flanked by fill and accent.
His playing style is so smooth, yet still seems to add super-strong accents and personality into the mix. There is a lot of fast-paced movement, but he isn't afraid to sit back in the pocket when needed.
Image © Kalem Horn
If I'm being honest, each band member had as much of the spotlight as Mono. A stage with as many chops to fill a butcher shop, I never knew who to tune in to! This was evident in each song with extended improvisation and introduction compared to their studio counterparts. Solos would often last minutes.
For 'Stereo', Ezekiel begun alone on keys. Heavenly synthesised organ sounds covered the room in a thick doona and the room fell silent. Long chords with space to breathe held us tight
Blues electric guitar begun from Xavier Lynn, complementing Ezekiel like fish to white wine. The three of them: organ, guitar and silence held the atmosphere like mother to newborn. A very, very polite, soft whistle is heard from the crowd for encouragement. MonoNeon's soulful vocals tag team the silence and fill the halls to an awestruck audience.
Lest we forget the face-melting performance of the drums! I was enamoured listening to those locked-in drum sticks. Like every other instrument onstage, the drums felt like it could hold as its own song.
Image © Kalem Horn
Each fill was slightly different, they ebbed and flowed, grew and shrunk. An extra snare hit there, an extra cymbal here, a true delight of craftsmanship.
The show closed with 'Life Is A Glittery F...ery'. The band held the heartbeat as Mono did his thing. Once again, both so good I didn't know what to listen to: solo or supporting.
Closing, it was drums turn to spotlight. I fanned the air desperately trying to cool down as drums set to 1,000mph warmed the room like a space heater, and were going to Mars! Double-time kick drums and rolling cymbal slams shook my brain then the band rejoined the drums.
Image © Kalem Horn
'Ba, babba, BAba.' A blurry mess of fingers plucked and slapped that bass. I was bewildered, I didn't know where I was or who I was watching. Mono locked and loaded left no leftovers. Before he left stage he reminded us: "I'm MonoNeon got damnit!!!" We all left adequately amazed.
MonoNeon has played and performed with the best of them: Prince, Knower, Ghost Note, Mac Miller, Eric Gales, Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram; the list truly goes on.
He is a big advocate for being yourself and unapologetically creative (check out his Bandcamp and YouTube for example). If you have not explored his vibe before, please do yourself the favour.
More photos from the concert.
