Live Review: Dan Sultan - Max Watts

It's a thick, humid evening, Max Watts in West End is packed to the brim with Double J's demographic and the city of Brisbane had just narrowly avoided a 'severe thunderstorm' but fallen victim to the charismatic melodies of a Killer. Dan Sultan is in town.

Opening the night is soulful folk singer-songwriter Claire Anne Taylor who delivers her music alone with an acoustic guitar; prefacing the night with a warm, and intimate performance before launching into the heated ensembles soon to come.

A band takes their place first, then with a slow stride William Crighton approaches the microphone strumming an eight-string ukulele. The band aren't required for the first song; a stripped back rendition of Priest, replacing rhythm with intensity. Moving into Woman Like You, Crighton continues alone with his ukulele but doesn't get too far. An issue with the instrument's pick ups sends a blaring noise through the room about 30 seconds into the song. Later Crighton ends abruptly, calling for house lights, security and medical. Someone in the front has fallen. After a breather, Crighton and his band dive into Jesus Blues. It drags at the beginning but as soon as they hit that chorus things are starting to pick up, and by the end of the tune; nobody wants their money back. With Dig Your Mind that the crew really hit their stride.

Later in the set, Julieanne Crighton's backing vocals steal the spotlight in On My Way, and again when she joins percussion in (Hope Recovery) Talking To God. Despite some technical mishaps, an oddly rowdy crowd, and an actual collapse in the audience; William Crighton and his crew deliver a truly memorable show. If they're the leading Australian independent folk artists, Australian folk is in safe hands.

It's time for Dan Sultan to take the stage. He enters with an entourage of musicians; a keyboardist, two backing vocalists, a drummer, a bassist and an extra guitarist. Warming up the crowd with an apology for his canceled shows in November 2016; it's been like a year, don't stress.

Launching into Magnetic, the first single released from latest album Killer, Sultan proves from the get go that his voice is legit. It booms clear to back of the room, and every note is a home run. Taking a step back, Sultan moves onto Kimberley Calling from his 2014 album Blackbird. The slower pace, and optimistic attitude of the song radiates through the crowd.

Between songs, Sultan hears something off stage and grins. He throws the bird up at the crowd and declares Melbourne Storm beat the Brisbane Broncos, then dives into Killer. During the song, Sultan performs well but the backing vocalists really steal the spotlight. They're killer in Killer. That vocal spotlight doesn't stay off Sultan for long. He hushes the crowd and delivers a gorgeous set of vocal runs. He's just showing off. Under Your Skin delivers an incredible bass line that could have easily been mistaken for a brass instrument. Through Hold It Together the crowd finally sings back at Sultan and the personal nature of Drover delivers a powerful performance.

A real highlight of the set is pulled from 11 years ago from his debut album. The infectious bass line from Your Love Is Like A Song drives through audience and the uplifting chorus is delivered with the enthusiasm of a new song, rather than a decade of performances. After complaining about the whole encore process, Sultan promises this would be his last song and that when he walks off stage; he would not be coming back. Kingdom plays, then Sultan leaves. But he comes back and it's worth it. Old Fitzroy has always been a relatable song, but played live, it's intimate and just the perfect closer.

Dan Sultan kicks arse.