Last Sunday, I went to the Cornelius (aka Keigo Oyamada ) gig here in Melbourne. He and his band were Amazingly tight and had a great focused look that I really liked.

There were 4 players on stage, Cornelius, a bass/guitar/trumpet/kazoo player, a keyboard/samples/guitar/misc player and a female drummer. A 5th member operates lights and the video being projected.

The show was Spectacular! I was often in amazement; Jaw dropping, Seriously! Even before they had started it was cool!

After Gerling had played, a white sheet was raised so as people couldn’t see the stage while thing where set up. After a while, the projector came on showing the name of the tour “from Nakameguro to Everywhere” and the pulsing blue ‘logo’ which you can see on the website

The intro graphic stayed there for about 10-20 mins then the filler music subsided. The graphics went away and there was Cornelius’ shadow being cast onto the white sheet from the stage side. He then, like magic, conduced words to animate across the sheet. It looked like magic, of course, it was just very cleverly practised and performed.

The white sheet dropped and there was Cornelius and band in their sharp 50-60s rock-pop style suit and tie.

Along with the video projection, they also had some great lighting, often shining on and from behind the band. They also had neon lights that sat behind the band in a curve which changed colours throughout the show. This added extra depth to the stage visual. So the neon’s combined with video cast on to the back wall and the players to the front, visually, it was a work of art.

This show was the best thing I have ever seen. oh yeah, the music was great as well They interacted so well together. The visuals morphed and stuttered in time with with what they played perfectly. (or vice-versa)

If they are playing anywhere near you, SEE THEM
here’s a good interview with Cornelius to read

Side note: Camomile tea makes my tummy queasy