Live Review: Tinpan Orange, Mama Kin

With the rain coming down in buckets against the Fly By's tin roof, the mostly seated crowd were treated to world-class music all Saturday night.

First up was local sweetheart Mama Kin, wife of John Butler, with a solo performance rivalled by few. With each of her soulful, highly lyrically-driven tunes accompanied by a short story of their contextual origins, her deep, bellowing and emotive vocals had everyone in the room hanging on her every word. Having flown back from Broome the previous day attending a funeral, she dedicated the first song River She Runs to her recently-departed friend. From that moment the crowd was hooked, as she switched between sweet little ukulele numbers and keyboards, Alex Burhoy of Tinpan Orange accompanying her on electric violin for My Friend.

Melbourne's Tinpan Orange, touring for their new Remix EP (though not performing any of the remixes tonight) brought an energy to the stage that was infectious. (Fun fact: one of the remixes on the new EP was produced by Josh Abrahams, of Totally Addicted To Bass fame, way back in the '90s.) Somewhere between folk, chilled-out country and indie, totally addictive track (hehe) Barcelona had the drummer using his tambourine as a drumstick, while upbeat older tune Song For Frida Kahlo was a highlight of the night. Covering Gillian Welch's One Little Song with Mama Kin back on stage proved the stunning range of vocalist Emily Lubitz, while Tom Waits' Way Down In The Hole also made an appearance. A thoroughly entertaining performance, with no other word to describe it but 'pleasant' – meant in the best way possible – this was a chilled-out, easy gig and a great way to spend a Saturday night (without wishing to sound too much like a grandma).