In Macy Gray’s first tour of Australia in twelve years – her last when On How Life Is made her a household name – a sold out crowd at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday night proved that this was a tour that fans had indeed been holding out for for a long time.
In between her visits, Macy has released some five albums, including her latest Covered, but it would be fair to say that none had made quite the impression that On How Life Is did all those years ago. Still, there were plenty of fans who were eager to sing along to every song, and it didn’t take too long to get the crowd on their feet and have a bit of a dance.
Running through a collection of her back catalogue to kick things off, Macy also went against tradition and started the show by introducing her backing band and allowing them to have a jam before the set was even rolling. This set the tone of her six piece backing band being as much a feature of the event as Macy herself. Indeed, it was Macy’s backing singer who received much of the audience’s praises, especially following her turn in the closing number of the set, the still remarkable “I Try”, which featured a brief “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” interlude.
The set was broken up into several parts, separated by costume changes. Emerging at first in a unique purple dress, that quite possibly only Gray could pull off, she emerged in a much more laid back black ensemble to move through select tracks off her latest covers record, simply titled Covered. “Nothing Else Matters”, “Here Comes The Rain Again” and Radiohead’s “Creep” were featured in the set, which unfortunately skipped the remarkable version of Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” from the same record. “Creep” in particular allowed Macy to show off her vocal range in a way many of her other songs don’t permit. You start to wonder why she doesn’t go for those notes more often!
When she returned following her second costume change, Macy gave us “Sweet Baby”, accompanied only by Mike Torres on bass, and then “The Sellout” with just the keys. These were for me the highlight of the entire show, with the band often overcrowding the audio in the set’s first half. When the band did return for “Happiness”, the sound guys made a notable effort to bring the band back a bit so Macy could be the focus, but it still wasn’t quite right. The sound isn’t the easiest thing to get right in the Sydney Opera House, especially when you essentially have a rock band performing, and unfortunately it worked against them quite a bit here.
Ahead of the encore break, Macy churned out a soulful version of another of her hits, “Why Didn’t You Call Me?”. The set, which came in a just over an hour and a forty minutes, was a remarkable look back at one of America’s most well known voices. She may not have the string of hits that some of her contemporaries can claim, but Macy’s unique vocals – which shine in their imperfection – make her an icon of the industry, who over the last 12 years has never stopped working, never stopped trying to move herself forward creatively, and thankfully never stopped touring. Here’s hoping it takes less than 12 years for her to get back to Australia next time.
