Live Review: City And Colour, Boy Outside

With a casual stroll onto The Standard's small stage, Sydney-via-London's Boy Outside went about the beginning of his warm-up set relatively unnoticed. However, the combination of his smoky indie-blues voice and a Jeff Buckley-esque hidden stage manner quickly wooed a growing audience, Aidan Crooney's sentimental lyrics leaving punters intrigued to what lied behind the fringe covering his face.

Fans soon learned mystery is not a Dallas Green trait, the man behind City And Colour sharing beautifully personal memories with the capacity 500 or so fans that managed to secure the golden tickets. Performing snapshots from his whole career and four studio records, Green informally tuned his guitar between offerings, openly albeit awkwardly revealing additional montages of his life in story. He dedicated The Grand Optimist to his father who he'd been unsuccessfully trying to call for his birthday but would inevitably be blamed for the lack of communication, also sharing a hilarious story of a headbutt induced black eye suffered during wife's night terrors, leading to Fragile Bird. The casual description of the songwriting process brought so much more to the already stunning acoustic arrangements Dallas performed.

He seemed almost embarrassed for not having the appropriate instruments and vocalists accompanying him on stage, requesting everyone in attendance to sing along – but he needn't asked, they were singing already. The surprisingly humble Dallas Green took a few moments to sincerely thank his Australian fans for providing him with much happiness, close to tears at the conclusion of a rousing choral rendition of Waiting… from Bring Me Your Love.

Day Old Hate cut through the air, its sad lyrics sung with a spellbinding sincerity over the acoustic guitar just as recorded. From old to new, Green also gave light to selections from City and Colour's 2013 record The Hurry And The Harm. From the lyrical genius of Of Space And Time to the badass strumming of Thirst, his impressive blend of upper chest voice and falsetto was placed with a precision fascinating to hear.

Green's tendency to politely put some clown in his place showed itself, with fans not disappointed by the Ontario musician's passive aggressive condemnation of cameras, tech staff, music journos and rowdy crowd members. Similarly, as a signature request, he called for phones away for the harmonica-laden Body In A Box, subsequently closing the night with Coming Home, a fitting send-off for the bloke everyone's made friends with and will welcome back open-armed this summer, no encore needed.