Live Review: Jen Cloher

The Great Hall of National Gallery of Victoria fills to the walls with bodies of all ages. Seven to 70-year-olds are ready to dance the night away thanks to tonight's fearless leader, Jen Cloher.

Cloher, dressed in the apparent uniform of skinny jeans and a black tee, coolly wanders onto the stage along with her backing band of fellow Milk! Records alumni. Tonight she's brought along drummer Jen Sholakis of East Brunswick All Girls Choir, Courtney Barnett's bassist Bones Sloane, and Barnett herself on lead guitar. The diehards in the crowd erupt with excitement as the tunes fill the room. Cloher's opening number is an ambient cacophony of bass and drums, with the now internationally famous Barnett taking a backseat while Cloher shines in the spotlight.

With no hesitation, the band dive into the electrifying David Bowie Eyes and Mount Beauty, with Sholakis in her element as she pounds the drums with expert precision. Her intensity, however, is nothing on Cloher's; hissing and biting at the strung-out vocal sprawls of her tracks. It's the perfect juxtaposition for a night at NGV - being engrossed by the kind of loudness that's simultaneously soothing, immersive and laced with anger. "This is pretty sweet," Cloher coyly declares at around the 20-minute mark, gesturing toward the vast beauty of The Great Hall.

There is a unique sense of professionalism to Cloher and co's performance. The quartet are note-perfect and miss no beats, but the camaraderie is unsurpassable. Eventually it almost feels perverse to watch the group of friends perform together, as if the crowd is peering through a crack in a doorway. The multitude of faces watch unblinkingly like entranced snakes to a piper as the backing band exit the stage for Cloher to deliver her classic track Red Room solo. Cloher's delivery is poignant and beautiful, crooning "don't make me beg" to an audience that heeds her request.

The band return for a final blow of gut-punching indie tunes. Cloher smirks as she sings "aren't you just a work of art", while Barnett does the same. More delight for the diehards comes in the form of Famously Monogamous - a track released in the annual Milk! compilation of 2016.

In her final moments on stage, Cloher declares the night to be "very rock'n'roll" to the cheering crowd, before blasting into the impossibly tremendous closer, Name In Lights.