Live Review: Angus & Julia Stone

27 August 2010

by Poppy Reid

Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Thursday August 26

In true Angus & Julia Stone style, a huge tree decorated with Christmas lights adorned the stage set for their sold out Enmore show, and under the musk-coloured lights and weaving smoke, you could have sworn its leaves were swaying along to each song.

Check out TMN's photos from the night

Barefoot, in a floor-length red dress, Julia opened their homecoming show with Santa Monica Dream from the pair’s chart-topping second album Down The Way. Her voice started small and pretty, then turned on us to match the darker side of her lyrics. Although you couldn’t see Angus for all his hair and hobo get-up, the audience screamed to have his babies and gushed embarrassingly.

Every band member was a multi-instrumentalist. Julia played seven instruments at last count including the accordion, banjo, trumpet and (in a new turn) electric guitar. Angus interchanged between his banjo, acoustic and electric guitars and took some time every now and again to ponder the tree (it was his idea after all) while Eleanor Whitney interchanged from piano to violin to mandolin and drummer Matt Johnson used his knees and the side of an acoustic guitar as percussion.

“This is a different version of it but it’s maybe a little angrier than the original,” explained Julia before her intense version of Grease track, You’re The One That I Want. Her band mates left the stage for this one but Julia beckoned her brother back to join her for the harmony. The folk magic continued, their cover of Neil Young’s Comes A Time saw the crowd go quiet for the first time, Julia’s loud whisper complimented Angus’ quirky, shallow moans.

The unique set continued, Julia played a track she had written just a few days before in Bundaberg. “It’s a little bit of a sad story but I think there’s hope,” she said of I Believe In Love. Her raw emotion sent chilling empathy down our backs, she sang of life’s burdens and the ugliness of infidelity. “What a wanker,” she laughed afterwards.

Angus’ Big Jet Plane and Just A Boy wooed every female in the theatre as Julia lifted her dress to dance alongside him. Even when he forgot the words, his ornate guitar plucking and the reggae fusion backing made it easy to forgive. Final track And The Boys saw a flood of gold confetti float rain down from the stage ceiling, Julia giggled mid-song when it caught in her hair.

The welcome four-song encore saw tracks Black Crow, Hold On, Babylon and Wasted send us off. The siblings embraced and their band mates joined them for the bow. Their fans floated out into the cold but were unaffected, still buzzing from the warm, touching energy of their music.