Sarah Blasko, The Brunettes @The Tivoli, Brisbane(11/10/2009)

Wed 14th Oct, 2009 in Gig Reviews

The reinvention of Sarah Blasko has been a rare treat for Australian music fans over recent years. From the demure waif of the Prelusive-era newbie, timidly finding her feet outside of the band format, through accomplished songstress and even sultry chanteuse, Blasko has been unrivalled in the stakes of consistently pushing the boundaries of her artistic narrative. Her most recent recorded effort, As Day Follows Night, is undoubtedly her most bare and brutal dealing with themes of betrayal and love lost. Her stage show (witnessed at The Tivoli on Sunday night) has gone the opposite way – with the singer seemingly developing a deep ‘Sarah Blasko’ character full of cinematic zeal and theatrical musings, and very distinct from the artist who penned an album of sorrowful hurt.

First up on the bill, however, was New Zealand five piece The Brunettes, filling in for regular support act Sweden’s El Perro del Mar. Relatively unknown here in Oz, they are mainstays of the NZ indie scene and with good reason. The interplay between front duo Jonathon Bree and Heather Mansfield is pure twee pop and gives more than a passing nod to The Velvet Underground and Nico and, more recently, the depth and style of the Black Mountain stable of groups. Their use of quirky and effective hand percussion – from triangles to castanets to good ole 1-2 hand claps – added to the overall cutesy feel of the set. Standout songs were Obligatory Road Song and Red Rollerskates from their yet to be released fifth long player Paper Dolls (and their second for uber-cool US label Sub Pop).

With Willy Wonka inviting us to “Hold your breath, make a wish, mount to three” Blasko took us into her world of pure imagination – a world packed with cinematic motifs and designs. Clad in a stunning white dress which can only be described as a caricature of Snow White meets Alice In Wonderland with over sized puffy sleeves and intense raised shoulder pads, it was immediately clear this was a new version of Blasko . The cinematic nuances extended throughout every aspect of the show: from the urchin-clad band members intermittently throwing glitter and streamers across the stage, to the Sound Of Music style Alpine backdrop and even to Blasko’s own patented staccato dance moves which were curiously muted in the beginning half of the show to seem more like homages to classic actress poses. Everything exuded narrative direction, including the actress herself who seemed to be more a character than her true self. Never more was this obvious than when the band died away between songs and she was left to awkwardly interact with the adoring audience: the painfully shy and quiet Blasko the artist seemed almost dismissive and apologetic for the largeness of the show.

Nevertheless, she lead the band on a twelve song powerhouse of emotion by playing the new album in its entirety first up – an admission of sorts that the new direction and focus was too stark to be put up against her past hits. A standout in the first half of the show was the haunting Hold On My Heart, where she revealed a rainbow heart design on the chest of her clean white dress. Other highlights included Sleeper Awake and the brave tale of confronting a relationship cheat in Is My Baby Yours? which had the Tivoli audience spellbound and wonderfully silent. In fact the audience tonight, which appeared a solid mix of couples and small clutches of small single female groups mixed in with a tiny smattering of the Brisbane musical luminaries, was unashamedly appreciative of all Blasko was doing on the stage, with several extended ovations and numerous pin-drop moments to savour.

Towards the end of the first set, Blasko unfurled the giant shoulder pads to transform them into rainbow-themed fan-wings to celebrate the resolution anthem of No Turning Back and the fitting conclusion of Night And Day, marking the end of the heart-break narrative of the new album. The band retired from the stage leaving just the impressively bearded keyboardist David to accompany Blasko’s interpretation of two cinema classics – Seems Like Old Times from the movie Annie Hall and our own ‘Liv’s Xanadu. A short intermission concluded with a rather brutal drum solo introduction to the second set, starting with Amazing Things from previous effort What The Sea Wants, The Sea Gets.

A mid-set costume change now had her clad in solid dark colours – a possible allusion to her viewing her previous musical selves as the adversaries, like the black clad bad-guys from movies of old. Nevertheless, she trundles through a hotch-potch collection of album tracks passed, curiously avoiding some of her much loved favourites like Don’t U Eva and Sweet November in favour of Hammer and _Always Worth It. A lighting malfunction left a languid and plain stage, which seemed to fit with the comparatively flat second half. The comparative atmospheres in the two halves spoke volumes for the amazing shift in focus Blasko has managed with this latest album and if the first half of this show is anything to go by, the audience is hungry for a sequel.