Gig Report: Hatari @ Manchester Club Academy 15/07/22

This gig has been on the cards for a while now. Having got the tickets back in 2020, the excitement I felt for this show was palpable. Hatari appeared on my radar, like most, when they performed at Eurovision 2019. Where they made quite the statement. Hatari is one of those acts that you have to just stop and think about why you want to listen to them. For me personally, their music is very well produced with powerful statements interweaved through their lyrics and music videos. The performance art collective makes music as artistic performance pieces so I was very curious about how they would translate that to a show in a small basement club in Manchester. How do you take the showmanship and bombast of an artist that makes artistic statements and condense that into a nightclub rave? Actually surprisingly well as it turns out.

Before I talk more about Hatari’s set. Let’s take a quick moment to talk about the opening act. I’ve been to 100’s of concerts and festivals and seen countless variety acts in my life. However, I have never seen something like this. Call me closed off or sheltered but watching a Jewish-themed drag show act perform classical opera and blending that with modern pop music whilst contemplating how they came to terms with the fact that their own sexual/gender identity. I have to say… That’s definitely a new one for me. Having never experienced this kind of stage show I was certainly taken aback by the drag queen, Ash Kenazi. So let’s break this down into three parts. Firstly the classical music aspect. Ash sang opera with a surprising amount of vigour and power. I mean the breath control alone was impressive. I was very freaking impressed with the talent on display. Also, the violin performance with very impressive. Just an immense amount of talent on display here. Then you have the performing to pop music aspect to the show. It was somewhat enjoyable to watch and just the sheer amount of joy on Ash’s face said a lot. Finally, the scripted spoken word segments. Thought-provoking and a good amount of content to break up the performance into clear understandable segments. Overall, I quite enjoyed the performance, though I definitely had “what am I supposed to do” energy throughout the set.

After a quick intermission, in which a big Brittany Spears sing-a-long took place in the crowd. It was time for the main attraction for the evening. Hatari took the stage with an imposing presence and you could genuinely feel the atmosphere in the room change as people braced with the set that lay ahead. I will say that the drummer Einar Hrafn Stefánsson was as imposing as a professional wrestler from the 90s with his cold stare and face mask, it was an impressive first impression. The drums were the only live part of the set up all other parts of their music were purely electronic. However, the rumbling through the air almost felt like there was a full band on the stage. So in that sense, the sound design was absolutely stellar. The only part of the night you felt the electronic aspect take its toll was when the laptop with all the backing tracks cut out. Making for an awkward minute with no sound coming from the stage. The set moved at a pretty brisk pace, I think they got through 13 songs in about an hour and forty minutes. All with very minimal talking or stage banter. Usually, I would qualify that as a negative. Yet, I think it works in their favour. Their efficient pacing and great production made this an excellent performance on a technical level. Dualing vocalists Klemens Hannigan and Matthías Haraldsson worked off each other quite well. Matthías, the stoic and unflinching power of the duo. Whilst Klemens was the gentle soul. It was very much an all-encompassing performance of vocal abilities on display.

The audience played a key part in the enjoyment of the night. I have to say it was one of the most wholesome crowds I’ve been a part of. It was so wonderful to see so many from different walks of life be a part of the evening with no judgement or malice in anyone’s eyes. It was the conformity of all who were non-conformists. Which is a weird thing to say. Just a night of dancing, smiles and weird electro-industrial music. So, after two and half years of waiting, I’m happy to report that this was a stellar night. Hatari put on a competent and commanding performance that delivered a real punch. It was a show that was like nothing I had ever experienced in all my years It was a fun night with hype, passion and loud music. Another thumbs up in the diary for me.