The anticipation for the long-awaited return of Melbourne singer/songwriter Lisa Mitchell was made clear by the sold-out crowd pouring into the Athenaeum theatre.
Danco kicked off the evening, immediately drawing notice with their colourful sequin-covered jackets and their lead singer’s friendly nature. The band had a strong 60s rock’n’roll sound, but with a modern touch. They breezed through the first half of their songs to modest applause.
Halfway through their set, the band left the stage as the lead singer called out Lisa Mitchell for a duet. This move drew half-hearted golf claps from the audience who were bewildered that the headline act came out to support the opener.
Afterward, Danco continued to deliver the rock’n’roll goods including some quirky lyrics, “I’ll be your organ donor /should you fall over and go into a coma”. Danco were very entertaining and their fun personality adds to their charm.
The six members of Alpine walked onto the stage with a sense of nervous excitement.
As vocalist Phoebe Baker pointed out, the band is used to gigs where people are standing and dancing along to their songs; but the seated patrons didn’t affect their performance.
The dual vocalists, Baker and Lou James, worked so well together with their great harmonies. ‘Gasoline’ and ‘Villages’ were the standout tracks, which even got a couple of brave souls in the front row to get up and dance.
Despite an expectedly bad Halloween joke, Alpine delivered an exciting set and it’s clear to see why they’re getting such widespread attention.
Receiving a massive welcome when she walked onto the stage with her band, Lisa Mitchell opened the show with ‘Providence’, the opening track off her new album Bless This Mess – setting up the mood for the rest of set.
The songs from her latest set have a bigger sound and allow the band to be more adventurous. The title track especially has a great energy to it and an extremely catchy chorus. ‘Spiritus’ was another fun track, featuring some great keyboard work.
There are also the more honest and raw tracks including ‘The Land Beyond The Front Door’ and ‘Better Left Unsaid’, which showcases both Mitchell’s talent and maturity.
She played most of the best songs from her debut album, Wonder, including the poppy ‘Oh! Hark!’ and the hypnotically mesmerising ‘Pirouette’.
‘The Present’ saw Mitchell let her hair down as she called on friends Clare Bowditch, Lanie Lane, Alpine and Danco to join her onstage for an all star sing-a-long.
Finishing with an encore with ‘Coin Laundry’, which had the crowd very excited and a few people dancing in the aisles; ‘Neopolitan Dream’ was the closer, which had the rest of the bands join in for one big dance-off.
It was a truly great ending to a pleasant night of live music.
