Check out Shardelite’s gallery

The Quarry Amphitheatre truly is a stunning backdrop for live music, and is almost Australia’s answer to Denver’s legendary Red Rocks. Set within the cavernous limestone walls of a former quarry, the tall jagged walls interact with the stage lights to form an ever changing palette of shadows and light. Behind the open-backed stage, a wall of fairy lights and illuminated gum trees add to the atmosphere.

As the crowd tucked into their picnic hampers and BYO alcohol, Felicity Groom and the Black Black Smoke took to the stage. Groom, donning a lacy white top and clutching her autoharp, lead her band into the opening strains of the funeral-march Bird. Noting the muted applause, Groom whispered “It’s very silent, but very beautiful here” before the harmonic acoustic beauty of New Years.

Groom’s lyrical style is both wistful lover and bitter spinster rolled into one, and the tortured but beautiful melodies complement the Portishead-style twang of the guitar and violin. Continuing with “a love song, no – an anti-love song” Farm Boy Stay, Treasures and Paper Strings, Groom’s set was a perfect complement to the evening. Groom’s saw solo on the haunting and snarling set closer Run For Cover was well appreciated by the crowd on the tiered-grassy banks.

It is often difficult to separate the hype from the talent, but for Sarah Blasko, it’s very easy to see why she has been branded “Australia’s favourite songstress” and bagged a slew of award nominations. As crystalline drops of Pure Imagination from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie faded out, Blasko deftly stepped into the spotlight dressed like a character out of Alice In Wonderland – red stockings, a puffy white dress with giant shoulder-pads and bulging sleeves.

Both shy and unassuming, Blasko dominates the stage without any hint of a forceful presence. Opening with the swirling piano arpeggios of Down On Love, Blasko took her small dancing space in the middle floated around as she sang, often looking surprised as this powerful and beautiful voice broadcast from her tiny frame.

“I’m going to play you my new record, I hope you don’t mind” said Blasko before leading the band into the sultry double-basslines of Bird On A Wire, Lost and Defeated and Hold On My Heart. Blasko is known for her unique stage moves, and she involuntarily dances like a stringed-puppet doing some form of sexy robot dance. It’s a strange stage persona but it somehow fits perfectly with the toy-box rhythms of As Day Follows Night and the fractured beauty of We Won’t Run.

After the singalong All I Want and Night and Day, Blasko’s costume began to evolve as the puffy-sleeves opened out to reveal flower-like ribbons of pastel red, aqua and yellow. “I bet you were wondering why I had such big sleeves” mused Blasko “Just spreading joy at my own expense”.

Breaking the ethereal mood, Blakso announced that the night “is about to get more ridiculous” as she played covers of Seems Like Old Times from the movie Annie Hall and Xanadu. Blasko’s talent is such that she transformed Xanadu from a cheesy black-mark on pop music to a heartfelt love song.

Leaving the stage for a short break, Blasko returned in a slim black dress and white stockings, and moved through some of her more commercial material including Amazing Things, The Garden’s End and the melodic Always Worth It. However, the costume change and the more radio-friednly songs caused Blasko to lose some of the other-worldly quality that she held at the start of the show. But there was no doubting the power of her voice and the talents of her band, who all switched instruments for Planet New Year.

As some of the more inebriated members of the crowd began yelling for an encore despite Blasko still being on the stage, Blasko cheekily smiled as she announced “This is the encore!” and closed the night with Explain. Blasko’s voice angelically reverberated like a theremin over the amazed crowd in the walled acoustics of the Quarry.

Taking four bows, a widely-grinning Blasko and her band departed the stage and the magic was over. A stunning venue, a beautiful voice and intricately carved melodies all under the stars – a night to remember.

Check out Shardelite’s gallery