So let me tell you a story. The first time I saw New Buffalo, the sweetness of Sally Seltmann’s voice stopped me dead in my tracks. I was grabbing a bite to eat in an old jailhouse courtyard at Cockatoo Island in Sydney and it was a combination of the trumpet samples that reminded me of my grandmother and the effortless grace at which Sally’s voice floats about that drew me to attention.

And warming to know, was seeing New Buffalo for the second time had equally as dramatic an affect. Maybe it was my frame of mind at the time but the entire performance seemed to both incite emotion and to sooth me, I felt like a child with a skun knee who was being comforted by a caring mother and that everything was going to be ok.

It would appear that creative goddess Sally had hand stitched her crowd at The Grace as they were as transfixed as any captive audience could be. It was pleasing to hear familiar sounds from New Buffalo’s 2004 release The Last Beautiful Day with popular song Recovery gaining a positive response. But it was the abundance of new material that made me feel good about being there. One of the standouts for me was a new song called Stay With Us, although just like a sheep, I fell hard for the single being launched - Cheer Me up Thank you.

Sally is a storyteller and she weaves sweet tales full of sorrow and of love and of satisfaction. Melodic and melancholy, with frank simplicity. The rise and fall of her vocals with the faithful steady piano takes you on a journey so that you could be skipping around a garden or playing on a swing.

Before New Buffalo hit the stage though, solo artist Ned Collette lulled the crowd with a unique combination of guitar and of samples, although it was Ned’s voice that impressed me, with a sound reminiscent of Jim Morrison’s, a big call I know, but it certainly had a very similar quality about it. It seemed almost a shame that Ned left the best till last too, his song Boulder turning out to be a cracker and making me wish I’d paid more attention to the rest of his performance.

Photo Gallery