Live Review: Julia Stone

The slightly dishevelled appearance of Castlemaine's Theatre Royal serves as a wonderful backdrop for Julia Stone on this, the opening night of her By The Horns tour, with the stage decorated simply with a handful of giant stars hanging above head-height and two rows of what effectively look like giant fairy lights.

Stone may be touring her solo album, but she is certainly not on her own and takes the stage with a five-piece backing band. While she isn't as frail-looking as her voice may lead you to believe, in a live setting Stone appears a little timid and easily spooked, much like a wild deer, yet it is she who has the audience eating out of her hand well before the opening number, The Shit They're Feeding You, concludes. Captivated, the packed crowd is respectfully silent until the very end of the song, except for the odd, “I love you, Julia!” bellowed from the back of the room. It isn't until the end of her second song Bloodbuzz Ohio that Stone lets out a very quiet and mumbled “hello” before going on to say how bad she is at talking and how nervous she gets, especially on the first night of a tour. While many performers who are uncomfortable and shy on stage can be mistaken for being arrogant, Stone is so sweet and sincere that there is no chance of such a misunderstanding occurring. Having swapped instruments a couple of times by now, and with a guitar currently slung around her, Stone, by her own admission, starts to relax. This, in turn leads her to delight us with a story about For You. For someone who claims to be “very bad” at talking, she's doing a mighty fine job of keeping us entertained. Throughout the rest of tonight's set, which includes her magical cover of You're The One That I Want, Stone enchants the audience.

Stone and her band are so in sync with each other that you could be mistaken for thinking they've always been together, but there is no denying that tonight is Stone's night alone. For a voice that seems so fragile on record, it is anything but live. Stone is effortlessly delicate yet, at the same time, so strong vocally that the effect is quite breathtaking. Stone's performance is heart-warming, both from a musical and personal perspective, and a shining example of how wonderful live music can be.