Reviewed on Friday November 21
Since their highly anticipated debut LP Down To Earth dropped in late October, Flight Facilities have been on everybody’s radar. Sydney duo Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell staggered months of silence in between chart-crushing cuts, culminating in an album tour that sent Gumtree mad with back-to-back shows at the Enmore having sold out in a heartbeat.
The final show for the tour, back on Sydney home turf, saw the jittery room packed out by the time Client Liaison sharpened the stage knives, heightening the buzz with their take on ’80s pop. Groove-ridden synth lines had the crowd bopping contently, mesmerised by the pair’s Flashdance-esque dancefloor tips.
As soon as Flight Facilities took to the stage in full pilot attire, it was evident that the sudden expansion of their catalogue from a handful of songs to a beat-pushing lineup was in no way a deterring factor. This reviewer sends her deepest sympathies out to repeat buttons everywhere, their abuse resulting in the unfailing ability for the crowd (now jammed into every corner of the room) to sing along from the first bar of stellar opener ‘Two Bodies’.
All this, of course, took place after a brief silence as the audience required a communal moment to absorb the astounding set-up before it – a huge LED screen that spanned the back of the stage, fronted by monstrous decks with a neon-lit FF band logo on the front that illuminated the crowd alongside a blazing row of stadium lights.
An air host voiceover rang through a venue that temporarily felt like a plane on a runway, and ‘Down To Earth’ collaborator Owl Eyes took centre stage, her stunning chops gliding over the beat. Known to her ’rents as Brooke Addamo, Owl Eyes proved she has left her Australian Idol days in the dust, leading the bangers from well-loved FF track ‘Stand Still’ to the name-making ‘Crave You’.
The patrons were taken for an emotional run, pounding the ground with dance at some points and swaying in a subdued rhythm-surrendering lull at others. A remix of Hermitude’s ‘Get Free’ cover sent the crowd wild, with FF’s ability to seamlessly transition from song to song – complete with a palette of intricately mixed sounds and samples – a blaring testament of their electronic mastery. The boys rounded off their hits with a half-hour DJ set, transforming the room into a killer warehouse party.
However, they weren’t done yet, promising one more “special guest” surprise up their sleeve. Their ‘Love Is In The Air’ encore with John Paul Young – yes, it was actually him – added an extra air of authenticity to their last show that made you both love FF even more and fear the magnitude of their awesomeness all the same.
