The long-awaited debut Australian performance from mxmtoon took place in Melbourne last night, in front of a sold-out crowd in one of the citiy’s best venues – Melbourne Recital Centre.
Supported by Grentperez, AKA Grant Perez from Sydney, the show started off with a wild blend of hip-hop indie pop, with a nice touch of soul and jazz. Having caught Grentperez last at Groovin The Moo in Bendigo, our team knew how incredible the night would be from the very start, with the band’s first ’seated show’ performance taking place.
Grentperez breezed through some of his old classics, new songs and even an unreleased track to the fans’ adoration. The performance had everything you could ever ask for. Mouth trumpets – check. Megaphone – check. Jump kicks – check. A song about a mandarin? You bet! Alongside band mates Charlie and Jack, Grentperez was the perfect pick to support mxmtoon, with the entire audience out of their seats; arms swaying, phone torches blazing and everyone dancing their hearts out. Our favourite tracks included Absence of You, Clementine, Wishful Thinking and closing track Cherry Wine. The energy brought to every performance is a testament that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Grentperez, and we can’t wait to catch them on tour again soon.
Before long it was time for the American singer-songwriter and bedroom pop artist mxmtoon, AKA Maia, to join us for her headline shows in support of latest album, Rising. Armed with her ukulele and her band, mxmtoon performed a perfect setlist from her albums and EPs – Plum Blossom, The Masquerade, Dawn, Disk and Rising.
The energy from the crowd was unparalleled, with screaming coming from every corner of the venue at all times. The show was refreshingly and extremely honest, as mxmtoon bared all with her ‘sad and gay’ music expressing all the feelings and emotions one can feel. Onstage, she’s having the time of her life – laughing, cracking jokes and being so real that she even took a BeReal on stage for a fan in the front row.
It’s hard to express what the highlights were from the performance as we love all songs equally. From starting the set with Falling for U, then dancing along to sad disco, to the realness felt in unspoken words and no faker.
Our favourite moments in the performance were ok on your own, fever dream, her solo acoustic set (i feel like chet, cliche and feelings are fatal) as well as florida and coming of age. Finishing the performance with Prom Dress and Mona Lisa, there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t dancing and singing along to every word.
The performance was truly magical and we hope that mxmtoon will return to Melbourne again soon.