Adalita, Laura Imbruglia @Transit Bar, Canberra (4/8/11)

Mon 8th Aug, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The two ladies to grace the stage at Transit Bar on Thursday evening have everything in common, on paper. Both are Australian born, from European heritage and have been in the industry for more than 10 years. Both are successful singers, songwriters and guitarists. But boy oh boy, can they produce two contrasting sets.

Laura Imbruglia (yes, the little sister to Natalie), broke the crowd in with what could be described as a slightly shaky, nerve-ridden set. There were a few sound problems; mostly being that everything was far too loud for just her guitar and microphone in the small venue. A shaky voice and very obvious nerves didn’t help the performance.

After a rocky start, Imbruglia picked up her game with a few songs she obviously felt more comfortable with, including, You’re a Parasitic Germ, from her current album, The Lighter Side Of… being the highlight of her short set.

Imbruliga is an amazing songwriter, her wit and charm shines through in her lyrics and gives even the grimmest of topics a light edge. The painful part of her show is to see her squirm with nerves and to apologise when she has messed up a note that the majority of the audience wouldn’t even pick up on.

The slightly more calm and experienced, Adalita Srsen, take charge of the stage and brought the venue to life. Until recently Srsen had been best known as the founding member of Australian rock band, Magic Dirt (on hiatus since 2010). Joining her on stage was guitarist, JP Shilo. Shilo worked with Srsen on her debut solo album, Adalita.

Srsen opened the awe inspiring set with, Jewel Thief, just one of many tracks to be showcased from the debut, self-titled album. Others included, Fool Around, Invite Me, Perfection and the track currently on high rotation on Triple J, Hot Air. All tracks on this album are lyrically focused; a different tune to come from Srsen, something new and edgy from the rock band she’s been the star of for the last 19 years. This tour shows a breathtaking array of vocal ability and skill to write with such emotion and simplicity.

Srsen threw in a track for the Magic Dirt fans from their final album to display the works of their late bass player, Dean Turner, Girl. Full of Rope was the obvious highlight of the set for Magic Dirt fans.

The set came to a close with the hauntingly raw track, The Repairer. Transit Bar is undoubtedly becoming the venue to steal all great musicians’ chances of a well-deserved encore. There is something intimidating about an artist making their way through the crowd at the end of a set, instead of simply disappearing at the side of stage. While Srsen’s guitar tech prepped for an encore the crowd went quiet, three or four people unsuccessfully began a chant and eventually the audience dispersed. The show seems so final once the artist has crossed paths with the audience in an attempt to make it backstage.

Imbruglia and Srsen are talented musicians with immense natural ability and both give it their all on stage. They are accomplished songwriters with the ability to pull just a little tighter on the heart strings than most. But with years come experience, knowledge and the capacity to outshine any support act chosen to fill the nerve ridden slot and that’s exactly what Adalita Srsen did.