'Alone At Last' is a setlist of the musician's very best original music, paired beautifully with selections from the shows that have made him a star of the stage over the years. Plus, expect a few stories that are simply too saucy to be shared outside the walls of Brisbane Powerhouse.
Brendan's break-up single 'Stupid' served as a break-out hit for him, and since then, among other things, he's performed alongside Marcia Hines in 'Velvet', released "EP and/or album" (Brendan's words) 'funbang1', and presented the world with a music video which has been hailed by The New Yorker as one of the best of the decade.
Before playing MELT, and on the subject of music videos, Brendan reflects on five of his greatest across his career.
One
'Stupid' (2013). My first collaboration with dual directors Brian & Karl came in the form of a one-shot-take party that quickly descends into chaos. It took three attempts to get it right with an insane amount of hands cleaning up the mess between shots. It was shot at a defunct mental asylum in Sydney. I’ve never been able to catch up with the actor whose party I ruin in the clip, but wherever you are, thank you.
Two
'Winner' (2014). One good turn deserves another! Another single shot take by Brian & Karl, this time choreographed so the music video could be played both forward and backwards and make perfect sense – which is a lot harder than you think considering we had to light an entire stadium in reverse. Not making the final cut is when the oval caught on fire from the haze machines – that said I probably shouldn’t mention where we filmed it.
Three
'Tectonic' (2015). Before I started writing music I was a dancer, so I knew eventually I’d have to make a music video where I was pushed to my physical limits. I’d seen Josh Harris’ work with other pop musicians, and he just knows how to make pop stars look like pop stars. Coco, our choreographer, won a flurry of awards and I vomited on myself about three hours into the shoot. Slay.
Four
'Free To Love' (2016). This time I wanted something a little more conventional. The only notes I gave to return director Josh Harris was that I needed hot dancers, hot suits and also I wanted to fly. Wire work is much harder on the groin than I expected. It was shot in Melbourne in one of the state’s many empty factory buildings.
Five
'House Of Air' (2017). Shot in Camden London, it was my third collaboration with Brian & Karl. Inspired by the 1966 essay Gay Semiotics it explored the Hanky Code and other gay taxonomies. It was clear from early on this film (and we did actually shoot it on film) needed to be explicit – very explicit. We took bets on how many hours it would last on YouTube but somehow it lasted five days. To this day I have no idea how it racked up so many views without being taken down, but eventually it was, but not before the entire world had watched me get shat on. Later, New York Magazine and Huffington Post would declare it one of the “greatest music videos of the decade”, and I agree with them. I am so proud of this music video, it never ceases to make me laugh and Harry Clayton-Wright’s performance is breathtaking.
Warning: NSFW.
BRENDAN MACLEAN // House of Air (NSFW 18+) from Brian and Karl on Vimeo.
Brendan Maclean's 'Alone At Last' plays Brisbane Powerhouse as part of MELT Festival 24-26 November.
