At this moment in music, the guitar—arguably the defining instrument of the 20th and early 21st centuries—has taken a backseat in the sonic zeitgeist. In the era-defining music of the last decade, you’re far more likely to encounter thumping sub-bass and glossy synths than the electric roar of a six-string.
That’s what makes Mk.gee – an enigmatic and virtuosic 28-year-old artist from Linwood, New Jersey – so remarkable. While he incorporates these elements, he’s perhaps the first artist of his generation to liberate the guitar from its historical baggage, clichés and all, utilising it to deconstruct and recontextualise rock music into a lush, feverish dreamscape that demands a crowd’s unwavering attention.
Bathed in stark black-and-white lighting, Mk.gee and his band performed as silhouettes inside Melbourne’s Max Watts, delivering a set dominated by tracks from his critically acclaimed debut album, Two Star & the Dream Police. A man of few words, he reached for the microphone in between tracks to scream at the crowd. It was a performance that was raw, intense, and entirely magnetic.
For a record so meticulously crafted in the studio, Two Star & the Dream Police took on a stunning immediacy in the live setting – at times even surpassing its recorded excellence.
“You Got It” became a yearning slice of downtempo R&B, echoes of Frank Ocean weaving through a shimmering sea of guitar and synths. The sublime “I Want” followed suit, ushered on by Mk.gee’s own hushed vocal performance.
Album highlight “Candy” and standalone single “ROCKMAN”, meanwhile, both received blistering live renditions, pushing both tracks to exhilarating new heights.
@tanyabunter 🦅 @mk.gee in melbourne tonight #mkgee
The night’s pinnacle arrived with fan favourite “DNM”, performed multiple times in a row and reprised once more during an extended encore. Each rendition drove the crowd into a shared state of delirium. The track itself felt like piecing together a long-lost Prince demo from the fragments of a half-remembered dream.
Perhaps most striking, however, was the connection between Mk.gee and the crowd. Throughout the night, the entire room screamed key lyrics back at him, fully aware this may be their last chance to see him in a venue this intimate.
Despite the obfuscated, layered production of his studio work, his live performances elicited a raw, visceral response from the crowd. In the spaces Mk.gee leaves intentionally blank, fans seem to fill in their own stories, and therein lies the world-building of Two Star & the Dream Police, brought to life with breathtaking intention when performed live.
On this watershed world tour, Mk.gee stepped seamlessly into the role he was destined to occupy – that of an undeniable star.
