When Dallas Green last played under his City And Colour guise in Australia it was for Groovin The Moo in 2012. His sideshows at the time struck an equitable balance between full band numbers and a few solo acoustic musings.
Whether a full acoustic solo set at the intimate Toff would be just as engaging as his last tour was perhaps the only question hanging over this heavily coveted show.
While 2011’s Little Hell and this year’s The Hurry And The Harm are City And Colour at its most dense, Green’s first offering behind the moniker, 2005’s Sometimes, was a strictly acoustic affair.
Much like that album, which came out to little fanfare amidst his then Alexisonfire commitments, this show would focus on Green’s storytelling prowess – whether he’s singing or in-between songs – and his relationship with a small but dedicated audience.
One of his first anecdotes was of the fresh scrawling’s on his set list made by support act, Olivia Bartley’s Olympia. Green may have light-heartedly bemoaned her interference of his set list but allowed enough praise for her to get away with it. The songstress more than earned the kind words of the headliner. The range of her vocals and their sheer exquisiteness, whether she’s behind an electric guitar or a keyboard, are some of the best of any up and coming local act doing the rounds.
“This is weird, isn’t it?” Green asks as the curtains are drawn and his white hat and southern outfit is revealed. “Let’s not make it weird”. There was no need, the only thing remotely ‘weird’ about the early numbers of ‘Paradise’ and ‘We Found Each Other In The Dark’ were the slight glitches in sound.
Or maybe even the comical error of stopping mid ‘Fragile Bird’ because it appeared from stage that a person had fainted when audience members had turned around to see what had fallen. It was just a couple of glasses that a punter had dropped and then bent down to retrieve.
Although Green had a right to worry though, he’d only just asked for audience members to help a person get some air after nearly fainting. The Toff was a few degrees from being qualified as a sauna or at least that’s what it felt like after finding shelter from a rainy Melbourne. Yet the singer took each mistake in his stride, furrowed his brow a little and then continued as if it had never happened.
However imagining away the phones of punters Snap Chatting, Instagramming or even just accidentally turning on the MP3 version of City And Colour was a little harder for the musician to do. While he made one off the cuff complaint about the annoyances of the “clicking of the camera” most past attendees of Green’s show would be aware of his ‘one song no phone’ policy.
Whether his message of actually experiencing the event over recording it made it through is debatable. A few punters could be seen agreeing with his sentiment, although they were the very same people that had only been capturing poor quality shots just moments before.
While ‘Thirst’ was one of the nights more energetic numbers it was one of only five tracks to appear from his latest record. The set list took its cues from the musician’s entire career. While every City And Colour album was represented, Green treated the audience with a rendition of Alexisonfire’s ‘Boiled Frogs’. Before the crowd could join in though the musician gave a genuine and heartfelt speech thanking those within the room who have supported his music life.
Of course that wasn’t the only time that Green’s voice strained a little with emotion, as he appeared genuinely humble in appreciating his audience. Just as explaining the story of ‘Body In A Box’ and his relationship with his father is the type of moment that makes an intimate gig such as this special.
However his declaration that a show as small is this is “all I need” received the biggest reaction from the audience. While the singer-songwriter’s appreciation of his fans is undoubtedly gratifying he was right in a more practical sense.
City And Colour have never and most would suspect will ever be an arena-filling act. Green’s greatest trait is his ability to sing melancholy tales that most fans can find a way of relating too. There is few better ways to experience such songwriting than with a select number of adoring fans and just an acoustic guitar to compliment the musician’s vocals.
Be that as it may, much like the title of Green’s latest record, it may be some time before such acoustic gigs become more regular with the musician unlikely to hurry into downsizing or harming the many who missed out on tickets to this sold out show.
City And Colour Melbourne Setlist
Paradise
We Found Each Other In The Dark
Sleeping Sickness
Thirst
The Grand Optimist
Boiled Frogs
Day Old Hate
Northern Wind
Of Space And Time
Fragile Bird
Two Coins
Waiting
Golden State
Body In A Box
Hello, I’m Delaware
