Hi Fi Mike is responsible for one of 2005’s most amazing aural offerings, the album Swim: In The Deep. His singles have featured on Ministry of Sound Chill Out Volume 7 as well as the stylish Australia Select compilation. There isn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind that he is a talent worth watching, but is he worth watching live?

The well worn path is to play live, build up a following and release an album. Mike Wells is doing it in reverse.  It is a very modern quandary; can a brilliant studio album be taken to the stage to captivate an audience. On Thursday the 6th of April I joined an intimate crowd in the cabaret environment of The Vanguard to find out.

Dauno Martinez kept the audience warm with his one man act playing a guitar and using a sampler in ways I have never seen before, but nothing could quell the audience’s anticipation for the sounds of Hi Fi Mike.  Once all musicians were assembled on stage (Paul Searles on keyboard, Tim Rollinson on guitar, Jamie Fonti on the gorgeous looking and soundiung piano keys and the back bone of it all Mike Wells with the Apple Mac and electronic gadgetry) they launched into the eerie electronic dub of “Infidelity Now” as a little mood lighting and smoke helped create an enveloping atmosphere. 

From here on in we were captivated by the world of Hi Fi Mike and the all star collaborators from the album. Inga Liljestrom, the confident and charismatic performer with a voice that’s melts in your ears, gave us “I’ll Carry You” and “It’s The Kill”. iOTA with his unique, flexible voice and amazing stage presence gave us Desert Karma and the other worldly,  very seductive Underexposed.  Connie Mitchell is a siren and a born performer.  When she was on the stage there wasn’t another woman in the world.  Connie’s performance of “Secretly Watching Me” and a new untitled track had the audience howling for more. 

The audience expectations were greatest for Steve Kilbey of The Church.  He is one of the forefathers of the Australian music scene and while the pressure showed during his delivery of “The Long Way Home”, he was in fine form when completing the closing song of the night – a new and untitled track that I’d definitely pay to hear again.  But the star of the night was Hi Fi Mike.  He is the creative drive behind the project and an impressive producer who can work his musical magic live.  It was an awe-inspiring performance with a lot of attention given to visual entertainment.

Whether you’ve heard the album or not go see him live.  He’s perfect on my stereo, but even better on the stage.