Nervy Khruangbin finally get the Opera House party started

Khruangbin
Sydney Opera House
November 25
Also November 27 (livestreamed) and November 28
★★★★

The last time Khruangbin brought their eclectic psychedelia to Sydney they just about filled the intimate Oxford Art Factory, the perfect venue for their effortlessly chill lounge act. Has their fame, sound and presence evolved enough in the intervening three years to fill the Opera House?

The audience were putty in Khruangbin’s hands.Credit:Jordan Munns

The Texan trio’s sold-out three-night residency answers the fame question, but four songs in lead guitarist Mark Speer admits to being intimidated by the venue.

It’s not false modesty: there’s a hesitancy in those first few numbers. But there aren’t many problems that can’t be fixed by a huge mirror ball, and as two of those babies descend from the rafters accompanied by the mesmeric West African arpeggiation of So We Won’t Forget, disco fever answers any remaining questions.

The audience – now dancing to the irresistible grooves – are putty in Khruangbin’s hand. Their party trick of mashing together and funking-up brief lines of classic covers is given the Aussie treatment with snatches of INXS among an implausible blend of Warren G, Chris Isaak and Spandau Ballet. The medleys toy with more tonal shifts than a Tarantino trailer but come across as a unified whole, tied together by virtuosic craft.

With the party in full swing Speer indulges in his only extended guitar solo of the night, weirdly on a cover of Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got to Do with It, showing off a precise musicianship that belies the Texan trio’s effortless act. Laura Lee’s cool vocals and stylish bass licks are rarely in the foreground but the adulation she gets from the crowd is testament to how tight their craft has become.

By the time the encore comes around, Khruangbin’s confident transformation before our eyes is complete and if they pick up on Sunday night from where they left off tonight, Sydney is in for a treat. As Speer wanders off stage plucking out the motes of Don’t Dream Its Over, his mission statement couldn’t be any clearer.

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