Gotye

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/gotyesep2.jpg" alt="Gotye : Live" />In the midst of a beautiful summer night, Gotye played the Edgefield Amphitheater in Troutdale, OR. ...
Gotye : Live
Gotye

On Sunday, September 2nd, in the midst of a beautiful summer night, Gotye played the Edgefield Amphitheater in Troutdale, OR.  The setting was perfect for his adventurous music as it drifted across the audience and up into the air.  He drew from all three of his studio albums (Boardface, Like Drawing Blood, Making Mirrors), with ten of songs coming from his latest, Making Mirrors (QRO review).  While many were probably there to hear the global smash “Somebody That I Used to Know” (with sales of nearly 10 million and #1 in over 20 countries), Gotye kept their attention with his wit and his music.  He opened the show with two numbers from his 2006 album Like Drawing Blood (“The Only Way” and “What Do You Want?”) and it was obvious that he was going to showcase all the angles of his multifaceted songs.  This was not going to be a night of playing just his radio friendly tunes even though he asked, “What do you want from us?” in “What Do You Want?”.

GotyeThe show hit its stride with an extended “Easy Way Out” and the gorgeously heartbroken “Eyes Wide Open”.  And then, as became the norm for the night, Gotye switched the pace into the ambient, tribal drums of “Smoke and Mirrors” in which he echoed the sentiment of “all these highs and lows.”  And that’s the way the evening went, like an ever-changing tide.  But it was a great ride none-the-less.  He even mentioned during “Thanks for Your Time” that, “We’re going to do something very cruel to you.  We’re gonna drop a beat in 4/4 time.  See if you notice.”  Gotye moved the set into it’s quietest moments with “Giving Me a Chance” and “Bronte”, even asking the crowd if they’d hang in there with him before he switched things up again.

GotyeAnd then THE song the majority had been waiting for, “Somebody That I Used to Know”, came, and it was perfect.  With female vocalist Kimbra not on this tour (QRO photos on a tour with Gotye), Gotye held the microphone out into the audience for her part and they sang their hearts out.  It was a brilliant move on his part.  He could have easily asked Caroline Polachek from opening act Chairlift (QRO photos) to fill in, but he chose the crowd instead.  They wrapped up their main set with “Heart’s a Mess”, which was a perfect follow-up to “Somebody That I Used to Know”, with Gotye practically yelling, “Your heart’s a mess / You won’t admit to it / It makes no sense / But I’m desperate to connect.”  The encore wrapped up the night with “Seven Hours With a Backseat Driver” and then a morphed together “I Feel Better” and “Learnalilgivinanlovin”.  And with that, Gotye ended an eclectic and energetic set that seemed perfect for a late summer evening under the stars. 

Gotye

Set List

The Only Way
What Do You Want?
GotyeEasy Way Out
Eyes Wide Open
Smoke and Mirrors
State of the Art
Thanks for Your Time
Dig Your Own Hole
The Only Thing I Know
Night Drive
Save Me
Giving Me a Chance
Bronte
Somebody That I Used to Know
Heart’s a Mess
encore
Seven Hours With a Backseat Driver
I Feel Better
Learnalilgivinanlovin
Gotye

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Concert Reviews
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