Angus & Julia StoneAngie McMahon is looking very comfortable in her Angus & Julia Stone T-shirt on stage tonight as she effortlessly fills the theatre with her big voice.
McMahon tells us she hasn't got any jokes prepared, so cuts right to the chase with her powerful, soaring vocals that slowly build with every note. McMahon's got a distinctively raw rasp that can send shivers down your spine. Her vulnerable and relevant lyrics are refreshingly honest, particularly during one song about being tired and eating too much pasta, which is something we can all relate to. After sharing her two biggest songs Slow Mover and Missing Me, McMahon tells us that she's got a new record coming out soon so it won't be long before we can familiarise ourselves with those songs to sing at the top of our lungs next time.
Violins begin to play as a backdrop featuring a starry night sky sets the tone. Angus & Julia Stone and their band of talented musicians begin to play. Tonight is a celebration of their latest album Snow, which marks a seasonal change for the duo's collaborative process. "It was a fun record to make," Julia Stone reveals of her brother Angus' farm in Byron Bay where said album was recorded. Everyone on stage helped contribute to the sounds on this record and tonight they recreate it in a live setting before an audience. A backdrop of engaging visuals plays during each song and enhances the flow of the music.
Angus & Julia Stone's tear-jerking love song Santa Monica Dream is elevated by the song's accompanying video clup, which features footage of their grandparents falling in love back in the day. It takes a while for the rowdy crowd at the back of the room to settle, but eventually the theatre becomes completely silent and still to take in this beautifully quiet, acoustic-folk ballad.
Although the show is centred around their new material, the duo takes us back to where it all began for them in their dad's living room in Sydney. Julia Stone picks up her trumpet for a jazzy solo on Private Lawns, while another band member adds a Spanish-inspired banjo solo. They create a great sense of intimacy like we're watching them jam in the privacy of their home as we get lost in the moment wherever their musical direction takes us. Grizzly Bear is a surprising addition to the setlist that hasn't been played live in a while and Big Jet Plane unexpectedly sneaks up on us well, before the encore. Angus recalls that the breakout hit was written about ten years ago when he was hitchhiking his way to Woodford Folk Festival and fell in love with a girl in the passenger seat of a Mercedes Benz. The pair give us that special feeling like we're hearing the song again for the very first time. Cloth panels fall from above the stage and a lightning storm projects onto Angus & Julia Stone for the uplifting Chateau.
Angus takes the lead with his harmonica for the beginning of their encore of My Word For It, while Julia ditches her shoes and dances in circles beside him. "We're really privileged to make music and to share it with you all tonight," says Julia, humbly and the audience is clearly grateful to to be a part of it all.
