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Ben Lee dazzled his audience with brilliant musicianship and witty charm when he performed with WASO at the Perth Concert Hall on Thursday.

After performing last year in Kings Park, WASO asked Ben Lee to join them again in playing orchestral versions of his pop songs.

The audience filed into the hall to the sound of a few isolated instruments warming up and the sight of blue smoke that made the stage appear magical as it waited for the arrival of the star of the evening.

WASO was not set up in an orthodox orchestra format, and instead instruments like the xylophone accompanied Lee with a guitar and piano at the front of the stage. These instruments were contrasted with heavy brass sounds in the arrangements and the strings, towards the back of the stage, provided tonal consistency throughout the show.

Lee arrived on stage in his usual quirky appearance – sporting a pink shirt and carrying a semi-acoustic guitar. He opened with Awake is the New Sleep and followed this with entertaining comments about being jet lagged, and proceeded to wake the audience and himself up with Gamble Everything For Love.

During this song, the unique sound of the orchestra shone through. The arrangement was simplistic but perfect with the flutes sounding like butterflies floating above the normally standard pop song.

Lee showed his witty side by entertaining the audience with his fondness of – œawkward silences’ and a sing-a-long song about kissing Tiffany Amber Thiessen five times in his music video. For a small man, he definitely has a big stage presence and even dared to take the micky out of Marcia Hines’ finger waving.

It turns out Lee is not just a pop artist with a sense of humour though. He took the audience back to his rock – œn’ roll days with music from his old band Noise Addiction. He even went as far as playing the guitar with his teeth in traditional rock – œn’ roll style.

He showed his versatility by then playing an acoustic set, including a cover of MGMT’s Kids that made the audience stare at the stage in awe of the pure rawness of the sound.

Perthibian music students also got a foot in at the show, with some of the arrangements showing off our musical talent. A unique arrangement for Love Me Like the World is Ending took the song to an extra level and made the song so much more powerful and uplifting. There was a new dynamic that only a symphony orchestra could provide.

Lee finished the show by declaring his hatred for encores, because they are “pretentious and presumptuous”, but left the stage to “take a leak”. He returned to finish the show with a bang by playing We’re All in This Together. It would have been bang-worthy had he not forgotten the lyrics, but the audience didn’t seem to mind, some even standing to sing along.

The show was so much more than just pop songs and with an uplifting orchestral experience, Lee showed that, in his words, we can save the world with music.

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