When the adorable Kate Miller-Heidke took the stage at the Tivoli on Saturday night the eager crowd was incredibly welcoming. Her album Little Eve was released this day, and from the moment she appeared, Miller-Heidke swept the audience away with her presence. Little Adam was a good choice for the first song, and one could imagine the entire band just exploding from the sheer energy they exuded. Miller-Heidke was hypnotising to watch. She captivated the audience with her enormous personality and voice. Australian Idol was even funnier live, Space They Cannot Touch was heartbreaking, and the set ended, too soon, with her latest single Words, leaving the audience wanting more. There is something about Kate Miller-Heidke that words cannot describe. Something that transcends the quirky lyrics, her operatic voice, the gorgeous riffs by her violinist Sally Campbell. As the supporting act for Evermore, Miller-Heidke provided quite a tantalising teaser for her own upcoming gig in a couple of weeks.
Britain’s Aqualung was the next act. Aqualung, the stage name of the talented Matt Hales, was accompanied on stage by his brother Ben, who describes himself as “Aqualung’s Uncle”, on guitar and backup vocals. Aqualung’s vocals are dreamy and sad and the effects of the music transport the listener to another world. Outside, a track from Hales’ latest work, Memory Man, was breathtaking and definitely one of the highlights of the show. The absence of drums or bass guitar, especially in a live act is more often than not a setback to the overall sound; however, Aqualung’s music was all the more intimate for this. This was Aqualung’s first show in Brisbane and I only hope that the tame audience didn’t deter the Hales brothers from returning soon.
Evermore, the main act of the night, were joined by a twenty-something piece choir for their opening song, Never Let You Go, which was ambient to a degree. Running was the next song, and Jon allowed the audience to take the chorus, which was a bit misplaced, being so early in the set. My Guiding Light was one of their newer tracks, and was nothing spectacular. It seemed to draw a good response from the crowd, however considering most of them were screaming fan-girls/wannabe groupies, it wouldn’t have taken much effort from Evermore’s part.
The memorable parts of the night included Peter Hume swinging his fragile keyboard around and over his head, watching Dann’s comical facial expressions as he went nuts on the drums (a sign of greatness, according to some), and the choir joining in on various songs, adding to the already atmospheric sound. The instrumental solos were placid at best, but improved as the boys went on. Peter sang lead for Inside of Me, and was by far one of the better performed songs overall. His voice is amazing. The song was haunting and melancholy, but beautiful.
The first set ended with Light Surrounding You, but the boys came back with a crowd-pleasing encore which included a cover of A Little Help From My Friends, as well as a solo effort by Dann on guitar and harmonica. Overall the Hume brothers did not disappoint, and the crowd loved them.
