Music / Journey Through the Land of Shadows 20th anniversary, Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen. At The Playhouse, July 19. Reviewed by CASSIDY BUXTON.

Formed in 2000, Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen is an Australian quintet known for their brilliantly mad live performances and inimitable style.

This concert was an immersive theatrical adventure and a tribute to the group’s second and most successful album, Journey Through the Land of Shadows.

Recorded and produced in Canberra by Kimmo Vennonen in 2004, the album propelled the ensemble’s popularity in Australia and overseas. It featured many of Michael Simic’s early compositions, written by a teenager struggling to find a place for his Croatian heritage in his Australian upbringing. The concert was a live version of the whole album played in album order.

The Gentlemen are Ruffino the Catalan Casanova (Pip Branson) on violin, The Great Muldavio (Phil Moriarty) on clarinet, Guido Libido (Guy Freer) on accordion and Little Ivan (Sam Martin) on double bass. Dressed in suits and hats and performing in character, their physical use of the stage, gothic humour and wide-eyed enigmatic stage presence driving the other-worldly narrative. They also performed on various other instruments, sang lead on a song, or performed poetry.

A fireside tale by The Great Muldavio provides the backstory to Mikelangelo. This beguiling tale of how the band came to be and early days travelling Europe all at once important historically and thematically. Carnivale elements, smoke haze, and dramatic colour washes enhance the obscure narrative, illuminating Simic’s vivid stories of love, death and debauchery and the absurd array of characters standing before us.

The band’s musicianship and choral accompaniment and Simic’s clever arrangements, poetic lyricism and rich baritone voice produced an evocative, moody fusion of European folk and cabaret. His European heritage is present in melodies and rhythms interwoven with hand percussion, foot stomping and sea-shanty styled choruses.

The tonal quality and tenderness heard in his singing of This Broken Dream, a melancholic orchestral work, a stark contrast to guttural sounds produced in salacious Klezmer inspired Formidable Marinade or the buoyant opening track Set Sail, complete with the atmospheric soundscapes captured on the album.

Mikelangelo sang crowd favourites  The Wandering Song and One of those A minor Days. Along with Figueres, a song co-written and performed by his sister Anushka and accordionist Guido Libido’s interpretation of El Diablo.

Gambling man and soon-to-be Gentleman, Rufino performing the tragic rom-com Things Will Never Be The Same, was a moving tribute to his brother and former band member, the late David Branson.