The Details

Gotye

September 7, House of Blues

One-hit (so far) wonder Gotye packed the House of Blues floor for his first Las Vegas headlining show Friday night. Such is the power of indie-pop anthem “Somebody That I Used to Know,” even at $65 a ticket.

Gotye, aka Belgian-born Australian Wouter “Wally” De Backer, was accompanied by five talented multi-instrumentalists, who frequently swapped gear between songs to produce harmonious electronic sounds while De Backer rotated between percussion setups. The eclectic sound—accompanied by cartoon videos featuring choreographed characters and themes—kept the crowd in a trance … for a while. Around the one-hour mark, though, the room grew restless, prompting Gotye to stop mid-ballad. “I can pretty much hear everyone in the first few rows, and it’s too distracting,” De Backer announced.

Still, the audience was rewarded, despite its poor behavior, with the song it came to hear. As Kimbra’s vocal approached (the New Zealand singer was not present), De Backer pushed his mic stand toward the crowd, which roared out every word. Those who left after “Somebody That I Used to Know” missed hearing the night’s true highlights, however: rocking encore renditions of “I Feel Better” and “Learnalilgivinlovin.”