Live Review: Kate Miller-Heidke, Sweet Jean

Ghostly white dresses of all cuts and styles hang above the Athenaeum stage like a dead, headless choir. Kate Miller-Heidke enters the stage space crowned with a sparkly, sun-queen headdress and wearing a shimmering, off-the-shoulder LBD that hugs her sylph-like frame. Slow, gentle new track Rock This Baby To Sleep opens with its simple keyboard and violin combo plus soaring, tumbling vocals from this most talented of classically trained singers exploring the not-so-rigorous discipline of alt-pop. Crazy-talented guitarist, songwriter and hubby Keir Nuttall joins her on stage for Ride This Feeling and – together with award-winning musician, composer and all-round musical genius John Rodgers – they light up the stage with International Songwriting Competition winner turned anti-bullying manifesto Caught In The Crowd.

Miller-Heidke and Nuttall both let loose during Words; triangulating strobes turn Nuttall into an epileptic fit-inducing cartoon robot strumming the guitar like a machine, Miller-Heidke rounding out an epic performance with a major crescendoing operatic trill. Tracks from Miller-Heidke's diehard fan-funded O Vertigo! album – Lose My S**t, O Vertigo! and Share Your Air – debut next, with the legendary Paul Dempsey making a surprise appearance to add aching, heartbroken vocals (in lieu of Passenger) on the latter. Haunting violin introduces Sarah, the true story of Miller-Heidke's best friend gone tragically AWOL for weeks before making a scarily amnesiac reappearance. It's forceful, dark and scary, and the audience sits in silence, sobered by the thought. Yours Was The Body follows, filled with an intense, piercing longing for a lost lover who completely fits her own body. No such qualms for diehard fan Paul who, as part of his pledge toward funding Miller-Heidke's new album, is granted a live performance of I Like You Better When You're Not Around, in not-so-loving memory of his ex-wife. 

Gorgeous duo Sweet Jean reappear on stage after their folky support slot to accompany Miller-Heidke and the fellas on The Devil Wears A Suit and quirky as hell Politics In Space, which is introduced by an epic flamenco duel between Nuttall and the totally versatile John Rodgers. Battle over, Miller-Heidke debuts the ethereal Bliss, a beautiful track that's surely destined to appear on a chick-flick soundtrack. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival comes early with a cameo appearance by old mate Franky Walnut, a dead-ringer for gourmet sausage king Kel Knight, singing his bleeding heart out with a silly song about love. Fortunately, Nuttall reappears just in time to pull off an admirable stand-in performance for hip hop star Drapht on the totally fun track Drama. Miller-Heidke performs a sublime cover of I'm Jealous by The Divinyls and does Chrissy Amphlett complete justice. An almost manic performance of Can't Shake It follows and there are a few head-scratching moments in Humiliation – is Miller-Heidke singing into Nuttall's acoustic guitar soundhole? Then Miller-Heidke's forceful vocal finale soars ridiculously high.

Encore performances of Beyoncé's Run The World (Girls) and the beautifully familiar The Last Day On Earth close out a truly entertaining, theatrical performance by a trio of exceptionally gifted performers. Miller-Heidke is a truly unique talent in the alt-pop genre she totally owns.