Given that Royksopp’s slow-burning ten-year career, which has spanned four studio albums and some enduring singles that include Only This Moment, Eple, and the haunting What Else Is There?, it seems curious that the Norwegian-based duo have never managed to make it down to Australia before this year. Jesus, we might be far away, boys – but we don’t bite? What gives? Our poor feelings!

That said, with headline slots at this year’s Big Day Out finally booked (and nobody better to show the Big Day Out crowd how to do dance music properly, huh?), the prospect of sideshows was one that teased and tantalized the minds of many a clubber here in Australia. Luckily, the duo saw fit to reward us for ten years of dedication with a particularly special show that went down on a Thursday evening, at the Palace Theatre in Melbourne.

Checking the line-up on the train in, I was terribly excited to see that Strange Talk, a stellar indie-pop group and one of Melbourne’s hottest up-and-coming acts, were supporting. But arriving at the Palace Theatre half an hour into their set only to discover it was not a live performance, but in fact a DJ set, was something of a disappointment. An interesting choice – it’s clear from their musical output thus far that the group certainly have their finger on the pulse when it comes to the realm of their chosen music scene at the moment. It’s just that I suspect that Strange Talk are far more inclined towards the live performance side of things, with little familiarity around the CDJs.

The tracks that they were playing out were beautifully-curated, a mix of floor-stomping indie-pop and euphoric disco tunes, for which I commend them – but there were more than the occasional botched, out-of-key mixes, which made the hour and a half that they were on stage for a mixed experience, and the crowd gathered in front of the stage were occasionally left puzzled. It was easy to spot the Strange Talk fans in the audience, who flipped out and danced twice as hard when they dropped a stellar remix of last year’s free track Sexual Lifestyle and Eskimo Boy from their self-titled EP. Leaving the stage to a smattering of applause, those gathered were reasonably well-prepared for the audio-visual spectacular from Royksopp that was to come.

Admittedly, I haven’t listened to Royksopp in a while. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the decidedly pop-oriented direction that 2010’s Junior took them in, but The Understanding and Melody A.M. still get playtime on late evenings at my house – so the chance to catch them in their natural element was one that would be silly to pass up. Those who came expecting the laidback, more blissed-out feel of their latest release Senior, or even their earlier material, may have misjudged their prospects.

Opening with the classic Eple and all dressed up in a set of hilariously weird costumes (including one full-bodysuit with a mesh mask from their guitarist, who seemed more than happy to dance around in front of the audience with cheerful abandon), the group came armed with synthesisers, a drum kit, guitars, and two female vocalists (whose names I never caught, unfortunately), and immediately began to tear through a solid ninety minutes of bubbly, synth-drenched electro-pop that traversed the furiously euphoric, as well as the occasional tranquil moments of blissful ambience.

All of Junior’s more up-tempo moments were the sets more successful moments, many of its tracks receiving a solid working out and sending the audience’s feet into a frenzy – a true testament to the success and the enduring relevance of their place within dance music, and their ability to evolve with the times and keep their output fresh and interesting. At the same time, their expansive back catalogue wasn’t ignored in favour of more predictable hits – one personal highlight included an updated version of What Else Is There?, in which the members of the audience managed to drown out the vocals of their singer in an impressive display of adoration. Poor Leno went off similarly, its clattering beats on record sounded just as fantastic with a new, electro-coloured sheen on them.

It’s been a bloody long wait, but for those who made the pilgrimage to the Palace that evening to worship at the church of Royksopp were anything but disappointed – the long wait for their debut in Australia solidly rewarded by a stellar show. Here’s hoping the wait for their return won’t be quite as long!