American alt-folk troubadour Willy Mason traded the huge stadium shows with Mumford & Sons for the intimate and cosy surroundings of The Toff for one of only two solo shows in Australia.
Support came from Melbourne’s own Hayden Calnin, who delivered a polished set of atmospheric, minimal sounds. Surrounded by an array of electronic equipment on stage, Calnin utilised a looping pedal in nearly every song to create a layered, textured sound (even including bird noises in the closing track), led by his soaring, powerful vocals, and backed by vulnerable, restrained guitar sounds.
Although initially playing to a sparse crowd, it built steadily as his set progressed and Mason’s drew closer.
Walking on stage with a humble, unassuming demeanour that continued throughout the show, tuning his own guitar after stating his tech couldn’t make the flight, Mason engaged in some adorably awkward small talk before launching into the set.
From the very first notes of opening track ‘We Can Be Strong’, it became obvious that the show would be driven by Mason’s emotion-filled, attention-demanding vocals, backed only by himself on guitar.
New song ‘Talk Me Down’ provided an early stand-out, displaying his ability to not only produce gravely, textured vocals, but to also soar to those glorious higher notes.
Playing a set of crowd favourites from his previous two albums, dispersed between new songs from Mason’s upcoming album, an enthusiastic and adoring crowd enjoyed every minute of it, even joining in with the occasional sing-a-long.
Most effectively in ‘Save Myself’, for which Mason himself dubbed the crowd “a choir of angels” and looked genuinely surprised and heartened by their reaction.
The show was a solo one in the truest sense of the word, with Mason proving a solitary figure on stage, before welcoming some “new friends” on stage, being two trumpet players and a fiddler from Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros, who are also in the country touring with Mumford & Sons.
Joining in every so often in the set, the trio at times had to be coaxed back on stage, while at others were unable to contain themselves, playing along joyfully from the side of stage.
At one point in the show, Mason had to stop mid-song, admitting that he was too distracted trying to think of other ones to play with the trumpets, which was quickly met by a shout of “this one!” from the side of stage.
Mason kept his new friends on their toes by taking song requests from the excitable crowd, granting the fiddle player the key of the song before quickly launching into it.
The backing band proved they were more than up to the challenge though, adding an intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable element to Mason’s solo show, stating that “it’s good to have friends, it’s a big empty stage sometimes”
Mason however, seemed at home as he occupied the stage by himself, becoming engrossed in every song as if it were his last. Fan favourite ‘Oxygen’, a modern-day protest song, saw Mason delivering poignant, meaningful lyrics that have never been more relevant.
Closing the night with an encore that featured a new song about “a revered member of the insect family” (title-track of the new album, ‘Carry On’) and one written by Mason’s parents, the young musician delivered a set with confidence beyond his years, playing for over an hour-and-a-half and seemingly not wanting to leave.
As Mason departed the stage for the final time, he left the audience with the parting words of “thanks for coming and witnessing the experiment”, and if the cheers and sustained applause of a packed-out punters was anything to go by, it was nothing but a success.
