There is a specific kind of electricity that crackles through a crowd when you know you’re about to see royalty. I’m not talking about the kind with crowns and sashes, but the kind that wear leather jackets in Australian summer and smoke cigarettes with an effortless cool that simply cannot be taught.
I’m talking, of course, about Justice. It’s been a minute since Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay blessed our shores, and if the sold out show was anything to go by Melbourne was ready to confess its sins at the altar of French electro.
For the uninitiated, though, really, where have you been?, Justice are the guys who took the blueprint of electronic music in the mid-2000s, smashed it with a rock ‘n’ roll hammer, and glued it back together with distortion and disco strings. They burst onto the scene with their debut album † (Cross), turning the polite head-nodding of techno clubs into full-blown mosh pits.
Tonight was a celebration of that legacy, but also a victory lap for their latest offering, Hyperdrama. But before the main event, we were treated to a support lineup that frankly could have been a festival bill on its own. Busy P, the Ed Banger bossman and former Daft Punk manager, got the blood pumping early, but the real curiosity was the Tame Impala DJ Set. Watching Kevin Parker, usually hidden behind a wash of psychedelic guitar reverb, spinning club tracks felt like catching a teacher at the pub; unexpected, slightly surreal, but ultimately a brilliant vibe that bridged the gap between psych-rock and Parisian house.
When the lights finally dimmed for Justice, the roar was deafening. The stage production for this tour is less “light show” and more “retinal assault,” in the best possible way.
As the opening wave of noise hit, a massive, movable lighting rig descended over the duo like a spaceship landing. We got the gritty, teeth-rattling distortion of “Waters of Nazareth” seamlessly bleeding into the slick, disco-infused grooves of “One Night/All Night.” It’s this ability to be two things at once, to have brutally heavy and impossibly chic tunes back to back that makes them so fascinating to watch.
The highlight, inevitably, was the collective euphoria of “D.A.N.C.E.” Hearing thousands of Melburnians shriek “1, 2, 3, 4, fight!” is a core memory I won’t be shaking anytime soon. But the new material held its own; “Neverender” sounded massive in the arena setting, proving that Hyperdrama isn’t just a clever name.
By the time they closed out the set, bathed in the glow of their signature illuminated cross, I was sweaty, slightly deaf, and entirely convinced that Justice might just be the best live electronic act on the planet. If you missed it, you have my sympathies.
– The Plus Ones
Justice is on their Hyperdrama global tour, with limited shows in Australia. Checkout their full tour and get tickets here.
This venue is accessible.
