author: Alex Milne

I was one of the lucky few to nab a ticket to the sold out Tycho show at the Hi-Fi in Melbourne recently. Scott Hansen’s futuristic, electronic melodies were flawlessly executed and he has well and truly earned himself a spot in the top 5-live acts I’ve seen to date.

An incredible tool used by Tycho to enhance the ambience was the background images. Videos flowed from a projector throughout the set that created setting and gave context to the songs in place of, and more powerfully so than, lyrics.

Although I had always thought of Tycho is ‘chill out’ music to be played in the background while studying/reading/generally relaxing, when played with the live band and at full volume in the way that Scott Hansen intended, this music was incredibly uplifting.

The sound levels were impeccable, giving a flawless representation of all of the layers in Tycho’s music that you otherwise miss out on. The Hi-Fi was a great venue for getting this across, with the small, enclosed space creating the sensation of being engulfed by a multitude of sounds. Being able to hear each element of the instrumentals in action I could fully appreciate the musicality of Scott Hansen.

Highlight of the night for me was definitely the encore, in which Tycho came out playing a space-age, techno, trap-esque take on ‘Awake’. Just as I was beginning to wonder whether they had actually just changed bands entirely while they were hidden offstage – cue dramatic pause – the bass intro and opening bars of ‘Awake’ were played. This is one of my all-time favourite tracks and I was not disappointed. The anticipation that built to it was intense and the crowd went nuts.

Kudos should also go out to the guys for playing in, what looked like, incredible heat that got so bad that their computers shut down and had to be rebooted. Nonetheless they weren’t divas and played on without complaint. What a great bunch of guys.

Every element of this performance was outstanding. The live band elevated the emotion of the music, the backdrop communicated a storytelling quality to the sounds and Scott Hansen himself was an amazing performer. Overall this was a fantastic gig that brought out the best in a band that has been a long time favourite of mine.

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