Having craftily nabbed a chance to review British electro royalty Goldfrapp, the enormity of the task didn't take long to sink in. Since their debut album Felt Mountain was released in 2000, the band have been a force to be reckoned with in the synth pop genre. Despite never having been a huge fan of the band, mainly through lack of exposure, I was still eager to see what all the hype was about. Unfortunately, that's what much of this performance was: hype.

Thankfully though, Seja (Vogel) of Sekiden and Regurgitator fame, proved a refreshingly melodic and hauntingly beautiful support. Accompanied by a keyboard/guitarist and a drummer, Seja's layered synth melodies and subtle, enchanting vocal harmonies combined to deliver a spectacular ethereal sound with pop sensibilities. The performance proved to be reserved yet engaging, drawing the audience in without being in your face. The music truly did the work as the musicians set about administering a genuinely enjoyable performance.

The songs gelled a frantic urgency, with melancholic harmonies that proved to be reminiscent of The Arcade Fire, Bjork and The Postal Service, whilst maintaining a striking originality. I would definitely recommend seeing Seja live, though perhaps in a more intimate environment than the vastness of Luna Park's Big Top.

When Alison Goldfrapp emerged from what looked like a giant silver anus construction, dressed in a fabulous cut up garbage bag number, the mature crowd greeted her with a surprisingly unenthusiastic cheer. Admittedly, when the magnificent lighting began pulsing to a slowly building beat, the atmosphere picked up dramatically. Dressed in silver jumpsuits, the rest of the band assumed their positions, and began what I had hoped would be a mind-blowing display of an atmospheric-electro powerhouse.

Of course, it's easy to be critical of a band, but it's difficult trying to think of adjectives to describe how underwhelming this performance was. The first few songs of the set include "Dreaming", "I Wanna Life", "Alive", and single "Rocket" - all off the band's latest album Head First (2010, EMI). Despite being slightly more optimistic than previous albums, the rigid, stiff and rehearsed performance left little room for spontaneity.

Although it may seem naive, I think even the band noticed their opportunity to recapture the audience when they finally played their older hits like "Ooh La La", "Black Cherry", and "Strict Machine". With the latter two comprising the encore, however, this opportunity felt poorly timed.

Overall, I found the whole show underwhelming. In the crowd, the atmosphere was poor, and on stage, a rigid display did little to help matter. A couple of costume changes by Alison added to the performance, as did the energy of the older hits, though only marginally.

Despite going in without high expectations, I emerged from the Big Top disappointed by the tired sounding new songs, and a surprisingly weak performance.

[Photo: http://p0m.deviantart.com]