There was quite a mixture of folk at the Canberra Theatre’s Playhouse last Thursday. The venue was full of faces; young and old . They were all there to see and hear the Indie-Acoustic sounds of Sydney musician, Lior .

Doors opened at 8pm, and not long after the house lights went down, Sydney Solo Act Leroy Lee stepped out on to the stage. Without saying a word he just started playing. Honestly at first, he seemed like a typical support act. “BRING ON LIOR”, was probably what most were thinking. However, after the second song he then began interacting with the audience. His songs seemed more meaningful the more he talked about them. The cross between the stomper, and his guitar (plus multiple delay effects) really added to the music, making it atmospheric and spaced aged, or as Leroy described it as “Trippy”.

Songs which stood out from Leroy’s set was definitely, Flowers, Daddy Long Legs (a song about his ex manager), and Friend of Mine.

“I wasn’t meant to be here. This is sort of a last minute thing,” Said Leroy to his audience “I was having a nana-nap then I got the phone call to drive to Canberra.” Good thing though, because for a last minute act, Leroy Lee put on a sensational performance, and it was sad to see him leave the stage. It was also just as sad, that there was going to be a twenty minute interval.

Finally after the wait, everyone returned to their seats. Lior’s band walked on stage one by one. First on came four piece string section from Melbourne, followed by the classy looking drummer Michael Iveson, then the laid back bassist Brett Hurst , completely casual guitarist Ben Fink and then by the dark and mysterious John ’Bedge’ Bedggood on keyboard.

After much anticipation the curly haired sweet-heart that everybody was waiting for came on and the crowd already went wild; theatre style. Lior kicked off his set with Heal Me, followed then by Daniel, then with a really emotional I’ll Forget You, Corner of An Endless Road, and more tracks from Autumn Flow and his recent album. A song which really stood out was the song Sonja, which is about a cleaning lady. According to Lior, her impact on him “was an awakening.” He said, “After meeting this lady I cancelled my tour, and came straight home to start writing this album. Corner of an Endless Road

Not only was the show exciting lyrically, but instrumental wise it spectacular. Sitting with a Stranger , and Jerusalem were very powerful pieces instrumentally. The way Lior and band bounced off each other was quite beautiful, it added such passion to the performance.

Like Leroy, Lior was very humorous. Often making jokes, and telling little stories between. Lior pointed out the differences between the club and theatre crowd. He told his audience “Don’t forget to sing and clap!” Looking around the audience, there wasn’t as many people bouncing and clapping which was kind of disappointing.

After a few more songs. It was “the end of the show.” , maybe a minute or two later, Lior came back on stage and said, “I know what’s going on, you know what’s going on. The traditional encore.”

He brought the show to a close with a story about a lady who asked him “what is your worst song?” He said something about his worst song being erased from his head a long time ago. He pulled out a piece he wrote when he was only 16, it was titled The Otherside. It was obviously spiced up a bit since he first wrote it, but it was great way to end such a great night.