An ensemble of exceedingly talented musicians with a finely tuned ear for a soulful groove, Golden Sound & The Outfit are an excellent choice of opener for this evening at Brisbane Powerhouse — but it’s the funk troupe’s entrance that is the most telling element of their set. Audience members are treated to an organ-heavy blend of soulful funk rhythms and jazzy extemporisations as they filter into the theatre before a raised curtain reveals the band in all their glory — already playing. It’s a surprising and amusing entrance that ably showcases the refined and entertaining showmanship of Golden Sound bandleader Peter Golikov while also acting as a fitting prelude for the off-kilter nature of the night’s proceedings.

Reggie Watts, similarly, practically sneaks onto the stage when he begins his set — briefly collaborating with his support act under a cover of darkness before addressing his audience with a thoroughly unbalancing, precisely modulated caricature of a British academic. Those familiar with Watts’ work know to expect the unexpected in tonight’s performance but, even to the forewarned, watching the comedian meander through a bizarre, impenetrable tirade is a curious experience. Watts’ academic satire, however, proves to be just the tip of a particularly bizarre and unquestionably miraculous iceberg that leaves audiences both thrilled and gobsmacked. It’s impossible to accurately translate the cerebral cacophony of ideas Watts cycles through in his all too brief performance.

The classically-trained musician constructs his free-flowing set with the precise intention of befuddling his audience and each and every segment is, in one way or another, a contradiction or contrast of ideas or concepts. Watts’ role-playing leaps to the fore as a Californian bimbo contemplates post-modern notions of meaning and Watts’ prodigious musical talent is just another platform for fostering ambiguity — the absurdist delivering a babbling, nonsensical rendition of Billy Joel’s ‘Uptown Girl’ mere moments after wowing the crowd with a virtuosic vocal performance. There’s no real precedent for the meticulous interpolation of order and disorder delivered by Watts tonight and, when the comedian concludes his second encore, a standing ovation seems almost inadequate in light of such a titanic performance.

— MATT O'NEILL