One of the highlights of the Sydney Festival every year are the string of phenomenal, intimate performances that take place in The Famous Spiegeltent in Hyde Park. Helping kick things off last night for 2013 was Brooklyn based talent Sharon Van Etten, who was using Sydney Festival to not only launch her first ever tour of Australia, but to bring to an end a very long touring cycle for her latest record Tramp.
The event was no exception to the Spiegeltent rule: great music from a personable performer who produced an hour and twenty minutes of blissful music – in the sweet surrounds and acoustics of the venue, before the sun had even set outside.
Sharon made her Sydney debut complete with a three piece band, and was playing “All I Can” off her latest release Tramp as I entered the venue – complete with Melodica! The rest of the set included “Peace Signs”, “Save Yourself”, “Don’t Do It”, “The Best We Can”, “Ask” and the incredible “I’m Wrong”, which closed out the main set and featured her guitarist don a violin bow on his instrument, as the powerful song exploded in a cacophony of sound.
Though she let the music talk for itself for the most part, she did get more talkative as the set went on. “Give Out” was dedicated to her boyfriend, Christian, who was in the crowd (and warranted a couple of “nawwwws” from the crowd in her telling of the story behind the song). She called herself out on her Leonard Cohen obsession that inspired the song “Leonard”, admitting it wasn’t nearly as good as anything he’s written.
She went ‘old school’ for the track “I Wish I Knew”, telling us how she wrote it in her parents basement and then appropriately performed it for us solo and electric. “Serpents” was emphasised as the first time she’d written a song while she was mad… really mad… and the night would go on to be closed by “One Day”, which she said was her Mum’s favourite song because “it reminds her of Fleetwood Mac”. Other times she would just introduce the next song simply as “another song that I seem to remember”. No matter how Sharon might describe herself, I would call her an effortlessly entertaining, elegant and eloquent performer.
A wonderful way to kick off the Spiegeltent season for 2013. I highly recommend doing whatever you can to get tickets to her shows tomorrow night or the next. She’s a wonderful talent. Here’s hoping it doesn’t take her too long to make it back to Australia!
Very Limited tickets to her remaining Sydney Festival shows (tomorrow night and Wednesday night) will be made available at the ANZ Tix for Next to Nix booth the morning before each performance for $25. Sharon will also perform with Beach House in Bangalow on January 12th. Tickets on sale now.
