What appeared to be a giant mound of rubble lay waiting on the riverbank in the late afternoon sun as ticket-holders young and old began staking out areas of grass with picnic blankets, ready for the headline act of the Adelaide Fringe opening weekend – SILENCE! 

As dusk fell on the natural amphitheatre of Tarntanya / Elder Park, a support set by electronic pop group Lastlings was effective although a little lost on the relaxed crowd, which seemed to be enjoying the ambience of the balmy evening. 

It was well after 9.30pm when six performers from Les Commandos Percu emerged from the rear of the darkened venue, pushing along a smaller, mobile version of their mountainous set, adorned with lights, drums and cymbals. Covered in soot, the men looked as if they had emerged from a mine shaft or the set of a post-apocalyptic Mad Max film. Wielding sticks and banging out a chant-like beat, they made a slow, eerie procession through the crowd to the front of stage. 

Four artists took their places behind their own drum sets, of sorts, buried among the mountainous debris, before ripping into a highly impressive percussion display surrounded by flames, fireworks, smoke and light projections.  

Unfortunately for spectators in the back half of Elder Park, the stage was hard to see and the performers’ movement, expressions and drumming prowess was just a blur. String lighting at the rear of the venue also impeded the atmosphere of the show. Up close, however, it was a different story. 

With a penchant for heavy metal, this reviewer found himself head-nodding to blistering and catchy drum riffs that would not be out of place on a Slipknot album. The syncopated drumming of clever polyrhythms was impressive.

During one section, featuring an ephemeral caveman-like beat, the performers were shrouded in smoke and red projections that seemed to turn the entire spire of stone into a giant, raging fire.

Two performers roved the set wielding flamethrowers and power tools that shot sparks in all directions. But it was the fireworks display – launched into the night sky from immediately behind the set – that stole the show. At times, the pyrotechnics crescendoed perfectly with the end of each section, followed by silence. 

While the artists themselves say their performance is a message about the finite resources of time and planet Earth, there is a more obvious metaphor for the chaos of war. Long cascades of colourful fireworks seemed like missiles shooting into the night sky, while the soundtrack of machine gun-like drumming continued among the smoke and flames.

Some audience members might have felt the show went a little longer than it needed, particularly if viewed from the back half of the audience, and the fireworks display was perhaps a tad excessive. But if you made your way up front, it was an engaging, visceral experience that left one to contemplate their own relationship with silence.

SILENCE! was presented in Tarntanya / Elder Park from February 17-19 as part of the Adelaide Fringe. Its season is now finished.

Read more 2023 Adelaide Fringe stories and reviews on InReview here.

SILENCE! was a highlight of the Adelaide Fringe opening weekend. Photo: Veronique Balege