Perturbator
4th February 2020
Neck of The Woods, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review and photography by Sarah Kidd
Like many a creative mastermind, James Kent, the man behind French synthwave act Perturbator, was influenced by an array of music, film and family, each piece absorbed, re-coded, and then expelled from his being throughout his formidable discography.
From his humble beginnings at age eleven when he obtained his first guitar, learning to play selected favourites from stalwarts such as Tool and Slayer through to his short time as a black metal guitarist, Kent has always derived inspiration from that which is around him, movies such as Ghost in the Shell, The Thing and Blade Runner etc lending themselves to his love of soundtracks; electro-cinematic landscapes often heard throughout his work.
The son of parents who themselves were musicians in a tech trance band as well as rock journalists, Kent learned from a very early age how to critically listen to music, his desire to create on his own rather than as part of a group realised soon afterward. Confessing to listening to metal on the daily, Kent is also inspired by everything from rap to funk to jazz, his love of artists such as Christian Scott and Pat Metheny illustrated in a transformative way through his recent album Strangled, from his side project L’Enfant De La Foŕet.
Last night, Perturbator – complete with new live drummer – performed at Neck of the Woods, the venue itself ideal for Kents’ dark blend of retro-futuristic sounds whose industrial beats and 80’s inspired synths (which when accompanied by his impressive light show, full of pulsating strobes and beams of white and neon pink) commands one to move. Settling behind their instruments, Kents’ face hidden by the veil of his own hair, revealed little, his right hand however tightening its grip around the edge of his keyboard as the opening notes of ‘Birth of the New Model’ from his last EP released in 2017, began to come together in the air, the tempo incrementally increasing, his fans soon awash within the tracks centre.
The addition of a drummer, undeniably produces not just a fuller sound but an atmosphere more akin to a live show; this feeling only heightened by the prowess on display, hair and sticks flying, Perturbators’ drummer masterfully not only kept up with the frenetic pace but fashioned it into a breathtaking display of his own; physicality his artform. ‘Neo Tokyo’ from 2016’s Uncanny Valley and ‘Future Club’ soon bringing a more definitive cyber-punk tempo to the room, crescendos and shifting bars built into the construction of the track ensuring that focus is shifted in exactly the direction Kent wishes it to be.
As the stage is drenched in wave after wave of strobe lights, those down front catch the occasional glimpse of Kents’ face, his gaze firmly set in front of him, his jaw tight as he steps up onto the foot of his keyboard and beckons towards the audience as if to ask for more. His request is met with punches to the air and various declarations of gratitude, Kent in turn performing a few imposing windmills, his hair casting eerie shapes, freeze-framed within the flashes of light.
Fan favourite ‘She is Young, She is Beautiful, She is Next’ from the brilliant concept album Dangerous Days, elicited yet more excitement from the crowd, those who are followers of similar artists such as Volker X, Gost, Slprs, Hexenkraft, FacexHugger and fellow synthwave artist Scandroid losing themselves to the music instantly. The more viscous composition of ‘Corrupted by Design’ cleansing the air as it punctuated each point with a defined clarity; ‘She Moves like a Knife’ and ‘Humans are Such Easy Prey’ once again from Uncanny Valley and Dangerous Days drawing the room back into beloved territory before ‘Vantablack’ (featuring OddZoo) added rare and sumptuous lyrics to the mix.
Kent and his drummer while conversing with the audience through a repeated singular upraised arm, otherwise remained mute throughout the set, preferring instead to let their performance speak for itself. And it would seem they were heard, the conclusion of the evening with ‘Tainted Empire’ provoking the crowd to chant for an encore which was delivered in the form of ‘Welcome Back’ segueing into ‘Perturbator’s Theme’ and finishing with the classic ‘The Cult of 2112’.
Where the stimulus that Kent feeds from takes him next remains to be seen, but wherever it is, his votaries will be sure to follow.
Were you there at Neck of The Woods for this industrial tinged synthwave gig? Or have you seen Perturbator perform somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Birth Of The New Model
- Neo Tokyo
- Future Club
- She Is Young, She Is Beautiful, She Is Next
- Corrupted By Design
- Excess
- She Moves Like A Knife
- Diabolus Ex Machina / Weapons For Children
- Humans Are Such Easy Prey
- God Complex
- Vantablack
- Tactical Precision Disarray
- Tainted Empire
- Welcome Back [encore]
- Perturbators Theme [encore]
- The Cult Of 2112 [encore]
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