Saturday night in Melbourne saw SAFIA return to the Forum to celebrate their recent studio release, A Lover’s Guide to a Lucid Dream. Having already witnessed their performances across Canberra and Hobart, Melburnians were in for a treat, as SAFIA rarely disappoints.
Pop artist BIRDEE 王煒 opened proceedings at the venue with a short set highlighted by the heavy bass of her tracks and rhythmic beats. While she certainly boosted the mood of those in the venue, Gold Fang, with his command of multiple genres, got the crowd pumping. He deftly switched from traditional reggae beats to harder rap before shifting into tracks such as “Remedy,” arguably an RnB track.
This authoritative command of multiple genres, along with his fun and often endearing personality, made Goldfang the perfect pump-up before SAFIA took the stage.
A Lover’s Guide to a Lucid Dream felt like an exploration of the new and old for SAFIA, but what it did wonderfully, like most of SAFIA’s major recordings, was convert perfectly to the stage. Often, SAFIA has toured with an LED panel or other high-end production that can feel like a distraction from their music.
Saturday night broke with that tradition, featuring a simple lighting set-up and only the music. It meant that when the ethereal vocals of Ben Wollner echoed during “Float,” “The Now,” or older tracks such as “Paranoia, Ghosts, and Other Sounds,” you could truly focus on what was happening vocally and harmonically through the tracks.
It also meant that without the distraction of graphics, you could see how much the Canberra trio enjoyed the performance, highlighted by the joy on Harry Sayers’ face during a wicked guitar solo in “Make Them Wheels Roll.”
Through all the vocal highs of Woolmer and the sub-bass of their tracks that echoed through the Forum, there were a few beautiful moments of reprieve, almost giving the crowd time to reflect away from the electronic dance energy of tracks like “The Story Never Ends” or ‘Together Locked Safely.’ In these moments, Woolmer truly shined, flexing his vocal ability while managing to get his keyboard to sing alongside him. This was prominent during “Embracing Me,” as Sayers and drummer Michael Bell backed away to give Woolmer the moment.
It was also a feature of their performance of the recent Triple J ‘Like A Version,’ ‘White Flag.’ Their re-orchestration of the parts made the song fit perfectly to Woolmer’s vocals, stretching where needed but keeping it faithful to the original by Dido.
As the lights dimmed after “Together Locked Safely” and a thank you from the band, it almost seemed inevitable that the modern habit of the encore walk-off was about to happen. Yet, Woolmer and co-kicked the trend, staying on stage to play the final two songs for their ‘encore.’ “Starlight,” a particular crowd favourite and one many would have been waiting for, rang out as the first of the two, the crowd sang with a particular zeal as the show was coming to an end.
To wrap it up, SAFIA closed with the final track of A Lover’s Guide to A Lucid Dream, “Seasons Changing”. While the track may not be as well known as those from earlier albums, the emotional message was there as the lyrics, “Keep looking forward, there’s still tomorrow / I’m learning to be happy with the time we borrowed,” played a message of hope that we’ll see SAFIA in Melbourne again soon.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
SAFIA’s tour continues this weekend in Queensland at Burleigh Heads and Brisbane before heading west to Adelaide and Perth in early December. Purchase tickets HERE
You can see more photos from Dan of the show HERE
