CHECK OUT BERTIE BLACKMAN PICS HERE!

Since leaving her legions of fans smitten on her last visit to the capital a couple of months ago, Sydney songstress Bertie Blackman was back to do it all over again last Saturday night at the ANU Bar.

On the magical journey this time round was the gorgeous Melbourne songstress, Kimbra and delightful local success, Hancock Basement.

Kimbra has a similar reaching vocal range to Blackman, so it seems only natural she’s on tour with her. Singing with a jazz-influenced style a la Bessie Smith or Nina Simone combined with contemporary influences such as Camille or Amy Winehouse she has a hugely interesting texture.

Filling in for the Hungry Kids of Hungary on the Canberra leg of Blackman’s tour was funky Canberra kids Hancock Basement. They continue to be the fun, upbeat indie rock band they always have been, but they have now mastered their craft into a formula that will guarantee roars from the crowd and any punter to shake their hips and twist 60s style without question. Maybe being a support act for so many high class acts has helped in this development from their early experimental days into a winning recipe but one thing’s for sure: the basement is never half-full anymore.

After Hancock punters had plenty of time to re-charge and re-energise for the headliner as there was a lengthy intermission. When Bertie Blackman did finally emerge, all her radio friendly hits featured in the set including; Thump, Birds of Prey and Heart. Although being the ‘Ms Versatile’ and – œAustralia’s Underground Queen’ she is, other soft, upbeat, electro songs made an appearance like Black Cats, Valentine, Baby Teeth and The Storm.

Musically, lyrically and vocally she struck a chord from A-Z and was able to take the audience on a journey through soft and mellow jazzy songs to upbeat pop numbers to – œget down and party like its New Year’s Eve’!

Blackman then enticed the audience with her own dramatic rendition of the old Phil Collins classic, In The Air Tonight. Starting slowly, then speeding up with participation from the audience was greatly encouraged.

The audience knew all along Bertie Blackman was going to be a hoot as she charmed and delighted fans with her tunes and jokes throughout the set. By the end she left everyone equally as smitten as last time, if not more so, coming out after the gig signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.

With festival line-ups approaching, let’s cross our fingers that this songstress will be on there again!

CHECK OUT BERTIE BLACKMAN PICS HERE!