Live Review: Solange, Movement, Juggernaut DJs

Keep your stadiums, your confetti, your outlandish costumes and world domination. Sometimes, you just wanna bump and grind and have a good time in a venue where you don't need binoculars to see the star.

Tonight's star was Solange Knowles, and nobody throws a shadow on her.

She was preceded by rising Sydney band Movement, three boys who played a smooth, aching blend of R&B after her own heart. Lewis Wade has an incredibly powerful voice that stirs up the room and cuts through some tightly executed beats that make it impossible not to move. The crowd stayed warm thanks to Vincent Vendetta from Midnight Juggernauts, everything from Enya to pulsing club tracks keeping the anticipation high.

Solange's impeccably-dressed band filed on and announced themselves with the thick, ribcage-rattling basslines and slinky beats of Don't Let Me Down. The woman herself strutted onstage oozing irresistible confidence, in an eye-catching jumpsuit that left her free to bend and snap, bump and grind and captivate for the next hour.

To the slow and smooth reverberations (both sonic and moralistic) of Bad Girls, she urged us, “Grind with me!” and revealed a voice that goes beyond soulful to positively operatic. The crowd couldn't be more thrilled to comply. With a tight band and flawless back-up singers behind her, Solange worked up a sweat pulling dance moves that sometimes defied belief (how did she cross the stage with just a few swings of her hips?), and at times the band joyfully joined in, six sets of hips moving in unison. It was almost too much funkiness to handle.

“I keep worrying about my pit stains,” she admitted to an equally sweaty audience. “Crotch stains, ass stains!” she laughed. “It doesn't matter, as long as you guys are having a good time.” She then promised to “lift the heat” with Losing You and the roof nearly blew off. Her songs are simple, soulful and so effective at rousing emotions and old-school dance moves.

A satisfying encore followed with the gentle Cosmic Journey (from her 2008 sophomore album Sol-Angel And The Hadley St. Dreams), featuring softly falling guitar; an uber-silky cover of Dirty Projectors' Stillness Is The Move; and finally, her contagiously upbeat early single Sandcastle Disco. The night finished on a high with a coda in which she got friendly with fans in the front row. The whole band had pit stains and you know what? Everybody had a damn good time. Beyonce, you better watch out.