Confidence Man have been on a seemingly unstoppable rise over the past year, growing from a niche electro-pop group to a word-of-mouth live sensation. Louis Griffin headed down to their show at Rock City to witness the party for himself.
DJ Sammy’s Heaven, a Eurodance cover of the Bryan Adams song of the same name, was released on 21 November 2001. It sounds pretty much exactly how you might imagine it to, from that description alone. Beginning with a sickly, sugary-sweet vocal (“Baby you’re all that I want / when I’m lying here in your arms / I’m finding it hard to believe / we’re in heaven”), it wastes almost no time in deploying an almost comically over-the-top synth – the type that defined so much of mainstream 2000s dance music.
Why am I telling you this? Why are we discussing a track that, in all honesty, belongs on a
Now That’s What I Call Music! compilation? (As it happens, it made it on to Now! 53). Well,
because this track is key to understanding Confidence Man, and the art of kitsch.
Confidence Man are an electro-pop duo from Brisbane. Since 2016 they’ve worked at their
unique brand of dance music, signing to cult label Heavenly Records and soon garnering a
rabid word-of-mouth reputation as a must-see live act. After a joyously over-the-top Glastonbury slot this summer, the band embarked on an almost entirely sold out UK tour, with a slot at Rock City.
So, what does DJ Sammy have to do with all of this? Well, not only did Confidence Man
cover Heaven for their Like A Version session earlier this year, but they decided to end their
Rock City encore with the track, too. A glorious centrepiece of their worship of all things so-
bad-they’re-good, the band’s reclaiming of such a terrible, terrible song speaks to their
approach to almost everything else.
They emerged onto stage to rapturous applause. The band is fronted by Janet Planet and
Sugar Bones, the writing partnership behind Confidence Man, and backed by a drummer
and a synth player, both clad in a blacked-out mesh beekeeper outfit – the focus is entirely
on those holding the microphones.
"Ultimately, Confidence Man have managed to do the impossible. They make pop that’s knowingly naff, but through that self-awareness, brilliant."
Speaking of, Janet and Bones both began their set in a pair of suits that made David Byrne’s
look like a sensible workwear choice. Popping their shoulder pads up and down, they
resembled long-lost members of the Addams family. In fact, this was one outfit change out of
four (by my count) throughout the evening, each sartorial update receiving a more rapturous
reception than the last – we saw light-up bras, flowing white satin and leopard print numbers
over the course of the hour.
So, to the music – from the opening whistle of Toy Boy, the band waste no time in
delivering hit, after hit, after hit. Their music sits somewhere in the realm of the aforementioned DJ Sammy cover, but with wonderfully camp notes taken from so many other pop alleyways: there are flashes of Grace Jones, Chaka Khan, Madonna, but also a heavy dash of disco, rave, house… everything is borrowed, creating a genreless experience akin to pure serotonin.
Ultimately, Confidence Man have managed to do the impossible. They make pop that’s
knowingly naff, but through that self-awareness, brilliant. Their live show is completely cliché
– and so, thrilling. They are a group totally unlike any other I’ve seen this year, and it’s
impossible to leave without an ear-to-ear grin. In answer to one of the high points of their
discography: “Does It Make You Feel Good?” Yes, yes it does.
Louis Griffin
Edited by: Jodie Averis
Cover image courtesy of NME.
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