Live Review: Ainslie Wills, Skinny Jean, Emerson Snowe

Building quite a name for himself in recent months, Emerson Snowe – the moniker of 18-year-old Jarrod Mahon – cuts a lonely but confident figure as he opens the evening with a host of unhurried compositions that swing from gentle guitar to loud open strums. When he lets loose, Mahon's vocal is rich with an emotion that belies his youth; this alone makes him one to watch.

A favourite of musicians for their highly intelligent and proficient craftsmanship, Skinny Jean are in fine form tonight. The hugely flexible vocal ability of frontman Shem Allen is a pleasure to take in during Atlas, and the band's overall ability during the playful rock opera energy of Abort, Abort And They'll Blush Anew has many in the crowd vowing to give up playing music forever.

Ainslie Wills is ready to impress from the first note of Mary, the opening track of the debut album she's launching tonight titled You Go Your Way, I'll Go Mine. Immediately she casts herself as the owner of a beautifully refined vocal – there's never a note out of place as she moves impressively between her range, mingling with the backing vocals of her four-piece band both on top of and behind the beat like a seasoned diva. Wide Load, Wills' stand out single from 2010, gets an early run; she's totally at home with the sensual romp of a lazy beat mixed with simple, chugging guitar, but when she opens up midway for that heavenly vocal exchange that transcends verse, chorus, bridge or any other defining structure, it really is something else. Fighting Kind trades in a similar unpredictability that makes Wills' twists and turns all the more delectable, as does Stop Pulling The String which sadly stops short of the instrumental jam featured on the album version – it feels rather premature to have Wills' frantic dancing cut. She's quite a physical performer; dropping to her knees in Ocean as guitarist Lawrence Folvig follows suit, wailing freestyle across the song that's been steadily building between light-filled, kaleidoscopic guitar patterns that soundtrack a sparkling blue sea, to the moody, dark strums of a storm tumbling in cymbal wash. Wills' ability to be wholly present while taking the audience on a musical ride so vivid as to be almost visual is impressive. Emerging from the songs as though time has stood still, the segues still need work; it's a buzz kill to have to wait through constant tuning. But in the quiet moment of Liquid Paper, Wills' ode to crap relationships that has an instant classic vibe, even the drunk amongst us can't help but stand still and illicit just a quiet expletive for the strength of tonight's performance.