David Duchovny – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 23rd Feb @ 170 Russell, Melbourne VIC

Posted on February 25, 2018 by walladmin

David Duchovny
170 Russell, Melbourne VIC
February 23rd, 2018
Support: Georgia Maq (Camp Cope)

Before you read this review, I’m going completely disclose that I had not listened to either of David Duchovny’s albums (Hell or Highwater and Every Third Thought). I attended his gig as a fan of The X-Files and I can wholeheartedly say that after watching his performance, my respect for Duchovny has only grown.

Completely unbeknownst to me, tonight’s support act was Georgia Maq of Melbourne’s Camp Cope, which was a really lovely surprise. It’s always important to get to gigs to see the support bands, because this is when a lot of great moments at gigs happen. “Things are going to get spooky,” Maq declares with a huge grin on her face, as she performs songs from Camp Cope’s debut album. Her performance was full of humour, heart, and real life truths. ‘West Side Story’ got a particularly rousing cheer of approval from the crowd when Maq reminisces through song “of the time that we spent watching X-Files in your living room”.

There is a short break between sets before a pre-recorded intro of AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ booms through the venue. I’m half expecting Duchovny to burst on stage, but he simply walks out and waves to the crowd with a big smile on his face.

Although Duchovny’s stage presence was sometimes awkward, this didn’t stop him from connecting with his audience with an intense smoulder (or is that Fox Smulder…) followed by a cheeky grin. His music also doesn’t necessarily fall into one category or another. One moment, there are hints of pub rock, the next, he’s adding more cowbell to his classic Americana tunes. There are clearly lots of influences in Duchovny’s music.

A cover of David Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’ is the absolute highlight of the show, with the whole crowd cheering along, but no influence is more obvious than Leonard Cohen, who Duchovny emulates during the slower songs of the show, his voice creaking amongst the lyrics. This is what I absolutely loved about tonight’s performance: this was real, raw music from a man who is giving it everything he’s got to connect with his fans. We know and love Duchovny as Fox Mulder, or as Hank Moody, or even as Denise Bryson. He’s a man who has been a huge part of so many of our lives through television, and tonight we got to see another side of him. He was having so much fun, and we were too.

Gig Review and Photo Gallery by Luke Sutton aka @LukeaSutton Please credit Wall of Sound and Luke Sutton if you repost.

Georgia Maq