Chet Faker – Sydney, Enmore Theatre 29/06/14

Chet Faker gigs should come with a warning: may contain traces of nudity. It’s the first song and already a cheeky pair of tits have popped out. Faker is as surprised as we are. “Wow, you’re not the average Sunday night crowd!”

You certainly wouldn’t guess that tomorrow is a school day in here. Tonight is the last of three sold-out shows at The Enmore. The dance floor is peppered with an array of beards, beanies and man-buns. So many well-manicured facial ensembles ― it is a Chet Faker gig after all.

It’s just him on the low-lit stage, and after the appearance of the breasts things are starting to feel pretty intimate. He sums up the vibe quite nicely with his next track, I’m Into You. The man knows his way around a groove. The side-sway is in full swing.

We’re instructed to get out our more serious dance moves for Blush, another song off his debut album Built on Glass. By the time 1998 drops Sunday night is officially going off.

Turns out Chet doesn’t mind a chat. He thinks we’re losing track of live music, with the trend towards people paying a lot of money to essentially watch someone up on stage press play. I agree with him. But then, I’d probably agree with anything the man said. At least I still have my top on.

“I like to have a part in each gig where I just make it up as I go. I think it’s important for musicians to have the opportunity to make mistakes. So please enjoy my fuck ups.”

It makes you realise just how much is going on in his music―watching it build layer by layer, harmony over harmony until it becomes that bright wall of noise. Judging on the applause any fuck ups were thoroughly enjoyed.

Photos: Chet Faker – Sydney, Enmore Theatre 29/06/14

Photos by Liam Cameron

The band join him on stage for a cover of Jeff Buckley’s I Want Somebody Badly. It’s a pretty sexy sound. Damn, he has a good set of pipes. Not what you expect from such a chilled, unassuming guy.

“You guys are an amazing crowd, just in case you didn’t know.” The reassurance is nice. He doesn’t seem fazed by the hundreds of screaming fans. He has that effortless, cruising-through-life look down pat.

Before taking it back to where it all began for him, Faker has a simple request. “For this next one, I’m going to ask you to put your phones away. If you go to YouTube, and type in ‘Chet Faker No Diggity Live’, there are thousands of poor quality mobile recordings already there for your convenience. Why not just enjoy it live?” Almost everyone does.

It’s closely followed by another crowd favourite, Drop the Game, and we’ve got the backing vocals covered.

One of the many things I love about The Enmore is that you’re never quite sure if the ground will hold when a good stomp gets up for the encore. We aren’t made to wait long before we’re treated to the soulful sounds Dead Body before the grand finale Talk is Cheap.

Just when it’s almost over the silhouette of a bra arcs across the stage. Faker kindly offers his beanie to the bra-less girl, a worthy exchange. And after a seamless gig from an inspiring Aussie artist it’s certainly a worthy end to the weekend.

Chet Faker’s national tour wraps up in Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide and Hobart this week – details here.