Live Review: Camille O’Sullivan

Three musicians assembled on stage as the lights went down, hushing the full house as they waited in silence for Irish/French chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan to appear. She unconventionally strode up the middle aisle holding a candle; alluding to the religious imagery featured in her first song, Nick Cave’s God Is In The House, performed as a ballad, before she jumped into the much rockier Gillian Welch’s Revelator.

She paused to greet us and wished the newcomers to her show luck for what was to be a wild ride ahead. O’Sullivan then performed an amazing acapella rendition of Jacques Brel’s Amsterdam, aided only by the tapping of her shoe and the absolute silence of the audience. Using props to aid her representation of the characters in each song, she sung a dark, yet hilarious version of Tom Wait’s Gods Away On Business.

Despite all the props, funny anecdotes and mischief she wrecked on stage, what stole the show was O’Sullivan’s powerful, theatrical voice that from its most hushed moments to its growling, Janis Joplin-esque heights, possessed a little gravel that made each note sound so genuine.  An anguished take on Nine Inch Nail’s Hurt showcased this versatility and became the set highlight.

Throughout the performance she introduced and got us to show our appreciation for each musician. Hailing from Ireland was Feargal Murray on piano and keyboards, whilst Sydney folk Hamish Stuart and Charlie Meadows played guitar and drums, giving outstanding performances. However it became evident that they weren’t quite as relaxed as Murray nor yet up to O’Sullivan’s standard as she gave them subtle directions throughout the show.

The audience needed no encouragement to participate as meows kept coming even after O’Sullivan had directed us to do so, ending the show with our own Nick Cave’s Ship Song, that the audience finished singing under her minimal direction. She read her thankyous from a red wine soaked piece of paper and gave us a farewell hug with an ode to the amazing Leonard Cohen by performing Anthem, in which she walked back down the aisle to.

Changeling was captivating, multi-faceted and a delight to experience, first timer or not, O’Sullivan is worth spending your pennies on at Sydney Festival.