Gracing the audience with his distinctive cultured-cowboy style, Willy Mason opened a sold-out show for UK singer-songwriter Ben Howard at West End’s popular Hi-Fi. Extremely laidback and initially retiring, Mason delivered a quality set that included a mix of newer tracks and classics like “Oxygen” and “Where The Humans Eat”.
Engaging naturally with the early crowd, which seemingly included some true (and vocal) fans, Mason incorporated a bass drum in his set that added welcome element of depth. By the time he came to his fifth track, a simplified rendition of “Talk Me Down”, the energy, along with the turnout, seemed to be building. Mason visibly drew upon this, warming up and engaging in freer repartee.
A standout of his support set was “Waiter at the Station”, which saw the entire crowd swaying in unison to the gentle melody. Even with material that was released nearly nine years ago, Mason presented his songs with such heart and soul that there was no element of the material feeling tired or over-rehearsed.
To wrap up a beautiful set with numerous guitar switches, Mason concluded with a track that perfectly suits being performed live; “I Got Gold” had the audience singing along from the start and provided ample opportunities for him to showcase his raw vocal talent.
By 9:50pm, when Ben Howard and his band of Chris Bond and India Bourne (also accompanied by a bass player) took to the stage in complete darkness, the crowd was rapturous. They maintained their applause when Howard launched into the melodic plucking of “Everything”, and, as Bourne joined in with muffled drums, it was clear that a high quality set was underway.
Howard followed with one of his better-known songs, “Old Pine”, an extended intro leading into the unmistakable first chords and causing the audience to erupt. The crowd anticipated the build and the band responded accordingly, Bond showing impressive multitasking on drums and bass and Howard joyfully accelerating the track toward its conclusion.
“Only Love” came next, a groovy inclusion to the set that was lifted by Bourne’s bass-work. Howard’s vocals melded beautifully with Bourne’s, which was given a lot of reverb for the song.
An orchestral introduction was played for “Oats In The Water”, which started out strong, but, following a drawn-out guitar riff from Howard – undeniably impressive but so long it became a little boring – the energy was slightly lowered by the end.
Howard introduced “Esmerelda” as being “another depressing one”. It might be true of the tone, but it was misleading in terms of his vocals, which absolutely shone on the track.
The audience were then treated to two of his well-known songs, “Keep Your Head Up” and “The Wolves”, which had the crowd completely engaged and singing along.
“The Fear” was perhaps the standout of the set and an excellent choice of closing number. With good vibes on and off stage, the entire audience had their feet stamping to the track. Bond made impressively swift changes between bass and percussion, and Howard seemed genuinely pleased and grateful for the ensuing applause.
A few minutes later, he returned to the stage to encore with one of his newest songs, “The Burren”. Built around his signature building guitar lines, the track definitely highlighted Howard’s vocal skills with its perfect hollowness – but it was disappointingly unknown to the majority of the audience.
Brisbanites were lucky to have Howard perform at all, with his Melbourne show the day after postponed when he completely lost his voice. While he did mention the state of his throat during the set, vocally on the night Howard was near perfect. His stage presence and musical proficiency combined to make him a thoroughly likeable artist, and to result in a warm and memorable show.
