The audience (which contained many Angus Stone stunt-doubles) piled into the Palace early on Thursday to catch Triple J Unearthed High competition winner Asta, who opened the night with sweet beats, moves, and melodies.
Beginning with her winning track “My Heart Is On Fire”, any nerves felt by Asta were quickly forgotten and it became hard to believe that the 18-year-old Tasmanian, with vocals reminiscent of Stevie Nicks and First Aid Kit, has only been performing professionally since August.
Playing several other originals, such as the sweet “Mumma Bear” and closing with “Escape”, the crowd seemed genuinely sad to see the confident teenager leave the stage.
Second support act, Steve Symth, attempted to carry on the vibe but fell short as his Tom Waits stylings did not seem to capture the audience’s attention until three quarters of the way through his set, in which he covered the Leadbelly classic “Sylvie”.
Sadly, it didn’t result in the entire theatre becoming silent as it did when Smyth supported Snow Patrol in September.
The ambience felt within the venue was magical however, as Stone (who looks unnervingly like Grug nowadays) and his band arrived on the stage just after 10pm. “Usually, I’ve got my big sister with me, but now I’m in the big bad world all alone,” Stone joked.
Playing a selections from both his solo work, as well as from the Angus & Julia Stone discography, Stone not-so-subtly told the crowd to refrain from the loud banter that they were taking part in during “Bella”.
Written about a late friend, Stone noted of the song, “if someone next to you is pissing you off by talking, tell them to shut the fuck up,” essentially giving the crowd free reign to yell at their neighbours more than they already were.
Whilst the slower paced folk songs suited the setting nicely, the standouts from the night were the heavier tracks, which demonstrated Stone’s influences. Such as the awesome Neil Young and Crazy Horse-like jamming between Stone and his band during “Bird On The Buffalo”.
Then there’s the early Dylanesque lyrics in “Be What You Be, Stone’s intense vocals recalling those of Robert Plant’s during the intense closing track ‘Smokin’ Gun’ – the set’s highlight.
These heavier tracks saw the crowd feed off the energy coming from the stage and made it easy to forget that Stone originates from an acoustic-folk duo. Cconsidering how the night started out (Asta’s future looking promising) the night would have been more impressive if the entire set list was this consistent.
Either way, the crowd enjoyed themselves, joining in with songs such as the latest single “Monsters”, in which Stone encouraged howling. Whistling, during “Wooden Chair”, and as one member of the crowd was heard yelling during “Yellow Brick Road” – “play that song again!”
A sentiment that could be made of any of Stone’s strongest moments.
