If there were any doubt about the Belgian-Australian artist known as Gotye’s rising stardom, one need only cite his impressive venue leaps for his Chicago debut, from a room that holds around 750 to a space six times that size, all over the course of a few weeks. Tickets for the erstwhile Wouter De Backer’s Park West show went on sale last December. By the start of February the show had been moved to the Riviera, and a week later to the Aragon, which he then easily sold out well in advance of his performance Tuesday night.
While it’s safe to ascribe Gotye’s success to the ubiquity of his single “Somebody That I Used to Know,” one song’s popularity alone isn’t enough to anchor a sold out show. Gotye’s secret, if it’s really much of a secret, is that he’s been honing his craft since 2003, and indeed, if there’s a lesson to be learned from Gotye’s breakout, it’s that “overnight success” is really in the ear of the beholder: the singer’s ascent has been in progress for close to a year, following the summer 2011 release of his playfully eclectic third record “Making Mirrors” (which was only finally released in America this February).
While “Somebody That I Used to Know” (performed with duet partner Kimbra, who also opened the night with a high-energy set that fused jazz vocals with funk-rock ferocity) predictably drew a disproportionate amount of attention, Gotye proved throughout the night that his catalog holds plenty of other pleasures. In fact, now that he’s got his foot in the door, it’s easy to imagine songs such as “Smoke and Mirrors” or “Eyes Wide Open” sneaking in and gaining traction as well, and for all the relative limitations of De Backer’s reedy, Sting-like tenor, he demonstrated that all it took was a few tweaks of technology to lower his voice to a booming rumble on the bobbing, reggae-tinged “State of the Art.”
Fronting a band that adeptly juggled electronics with traditional instruments (for “Thanks For Your Time” all five people on stage were striking samplers and keys), Gotye was surrounded by various percussion devices and electronic instruments, happily thudding on toms or hitting triggers to enhance his winsome soundscapes. While it would be easy to think of the array as a sort of protective nest shielding him from his audience, the calm, confident Gotye showed himself more than capable of managing the needs of a crowd that may not have known he even existed just a few months ago. Whether he’s able to stay on top is anyone’s guess, but for the time being sticking with Gotye seems a pretty safe bet.