Live Review: Dope Lemon, Jack River

As Jack River waltzed onto the stage, Metro Theatre was already full with keen punters, all of them seemingly impressed by her angst-ridden vocal tones but shiny stage personality.

Dream Girl glowed with pop ingredients and mixed together to create this catchy wonder before she ended with her debut EP’s lead track, Palo Alto, a real stunner of a song to hear live.

Before Dope Lemon graced us with their presence, the lights on stage dimmed and fairy lights glowed. The stage lit up with warm oranges and reds and this really set the scene for an enchantingly unique experience. Angus Stone brought out a mini banjo to play the opening track, River Love. Although starting simple, the momentum then built up swiftly, once the skilful drums exploded over the melody line. The sound quality was perfect in the sense that, throughout the whole night, each sound on stage echoed through the room, everyone mesmerised by the magic opening up before them. They then played the track Please You off the Angus & Julia Stone self-titled album. With the mandala like-visuals mixing with the low lighting and warm tones, this all really enhanced the experience of Angus Stone’s velvety drawl and his timid yet endearing presence on stage.

For the tune Coyote, from Dope Lemon's debut album, Honey Bones, Stone whistled angelically in time with the guitar chords playing; the crowd was quiet as they basked in the pure resonance. The crowd sang along to the hook, “Lemons don’t get much sweeter than this… a coyote”. Stone then walked out from the shadows and said, “This one’s about a girl who took me to a river,” then began the ear catching riff to Marinade, the audience throughout the song sang this little ditty as well as the chorus, and were rewarded with a sweet smile from Stone. He then ploughed through his tunes Fuck Things Up, Crash & Burn and Uptown Folks earning instant loud cheers, swaying and sing-alongs from the crowd, just pure bliss. Before exiting, Stone got thrown a pair of men’s underwear, which he spun around in his hands before cheekily putting them in his mouth.

The band re-entered the stage for the encore after a loud cheer; Stone had a great echoing effect on the vocal here, increasing the overall vibe. To end, deep bass vibrated from the stage, lingering until lights were out.