When I was in Los Angeles in 2006, I passed up the opportunity to see Zero 7, accompanied by Jose Gonzalez and Sia, at the Hollywood Bowl. Oh, how I still regret this decision. But the result of this decision meant that this gig at the Enmore would be the first time I’d have the privilege of experiencing one of Australia’s finest talents.
But first up was another great talent, Tom Ugly. I’d had the opportunity to see Tom solo before, but this was my first time seeing the full (4 piece) band, formerly known as [is], and winners of JJJ Unearthed High a few years back. I can totally understand now why they won – these are catchy beats, produced by some frustratingly talented musicians. While I’m not normally a fan of the backing track, it did work okay in this instance. They closed their set with single “Cult Romance”, which apparently ranked 141 in the hottest 100 for 2008. How does Wikipedia know this, I wonder?
With air-conditioning problems plaguing the venue for some time now, the Enmore Theatre front floor, along with the whole sold out crowd, found themselves literally sweating in anticipation for Adelaide’s Sia Furler to hit the stage – and I was no exception. When she arrived on stage, Xanadu blasted over the speakers, and she and her 5 piece backing band were dressed as glowing men (see pics below), opening with “Buttons”. Fantastic! Those of us up close could just catch a glimpse of her massive smile through the darkness. She was loving every minute of it, and so were we. The sound was proving impeccable, as well – something you can’t always say for this venue (Tom Ugly had a few problems early on, but they were sorted pretty quickly).
After stripping off the glowing clothes (in hilarious fashion, of course), Sia greeted the crowd, and immediately began showing off her hilarious banter – stuffing anything that was thrown onto the stage into her pants – “Every pants you throw I’ll put in my pants!” And she really did. All accompanied her stage manifesto – “Be yourself, heckle me, complement me… whatever you’d like… let’s make a baby” – often accompanied by a talking hand in one, and a glass of wine in the other. Truly amazing.
Her ability to jump from this dorky demeanour and hilarious banter, with the crowd in stitches, into a highly emotional number such as “You Will Be Loved”, dropping the crowd into silence, was truly remarkable. She is without a doubt one of the most incredible performers I’ve ever seen. And naturally so – this is simply the way she is – and it couldn’t make for a more entertaining show.
“I Go To Sleep”, “Little Black Sandals”, “Soon We’ll Be Found” (accompanied by sign language), the epic trumpets of “Electric Bird” and “The Girl you Lost to Cocaine” were among the other crowd pleasers from the fantastic LP, Some People Have Real Problems – on which the set weighted heavily towards. She also threw in the classic Zero 7 number “which made me famous!” – “Distractions,” sending a wide variety of goosebumps up and down my body. And all this while she was apparently nervous due to family and friends being a part of the crowd!
Other songs included “You’ve Changed” and new number “Clap Your Hands” – which sent the crowd to do just that. Indeed, we were all under her spell, and by the time she finished up her encore with “Breathe Me”, we truly didn’t want it to end. What an amazing talent this woman is, and how important it is for all of you to experience in “dweeb chic splendour” that is the incomparable Sia Furler.
Photos by Johnny Au – Exclusively for the AU review.
