Live Review: James Vincent McMorrow, Airling

It was a shame to see the Astor audience relegated to allocated seating for what was to be such an incredibly energetic and entertaining set of performances from Irish troubadour James Vincent McMorrow.

Lone support act Airling, aka Hannah Shepherd, wowed the audience early on with her lush electronic sounds and ethereal vocals, creating dreamy indie pop soundscapes with just the accompaniment of guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Graham Ritchie. The pair kicked off with By Thorns, one of the many unreleased tracks by the Brisbane artist, and the James Blake-style ballad, Dust, which saw the singer loop her vocals together to create a rich, angelic choir of voices over the top of a heavy bass and deep piano chords. The singer capped off the set with new song, Runner, which featured jazzy guitar riffs from Ritchie over Shepherd's rising synth chords and effected vocals, serving as a great ending to a strong set from the up and coming artist. 
  
Receiving a warm welcome as he arrived onstage, James Vincent McMorrow started the set quietly with the folk-influenced sounds of The Lakes and Glacier, with his soulful voice and soaring falsetto immediately winning over the audience.

Despite being jet-lagged and not having played together for two weeks, McMorrow and his band played great together, switching between instruments to cover both the folk sounds of his debut album, Early In The Morning, and the more electronic R&B of Post Tropical.

The stage set-up included a fixture of several pyramid-shaped white lights that illuminated the band during Red Dust and Burning Ropes, with a large moon behind them featuring projections of stars and planets, making for a surreal look onstage that enhanced the songs.

McMorrow then strapped on an electric guitar for the bluesy stomp of Follow You Down To The Red Oak Tree, This Old Dark Machine and then went back to piano for a stirring version of Post Tropical complete with lush harmonies from his backing band.

But the biggest highlight of the night was Cavalier, with the audience reduced to silence by the opening notes and McMorrow delivering it with an intense heartfelt conviction and emotion that received a massive reaction from the crowd. After huge applause he finished the set off with a sparse piano cover of Steve Winwood's Higher Love, returning for an encore with an acoustic performance of And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop and then a sweet band arrangement of If I Had A Boat.