Julia Jacklin ProfileAinsley Farrell's vocals rose with the lights as she introduced early attendees to her runaway guitar riffs and bluesy vocals lines. Conversations among patrons would temporarily cease in order to applause Farrell's solo efforts in between each track. Her ferocious harmonies, broken up by airy interludes of luring sparseness, gave punters a taste of what to expect from the headline act.
Morning TV produced effortless, head-bopping tunes in their delightfully fun, tight and fluent performance. Guitar riffs were given an appropriate amount of phaser and flange to epitomise their psych-beach, rock style. This was rhythmically guided by talented drumming alongside bass grooves that thunderously hummed across the venue. Brought together by a breezy female vocal lead, the four-piece successfully presented a unified sound that young bands today strive for. It's a winning formula repeated over and over in their set to little fanfare.
It takes a special kind of performer to mesmerise crowd members, especially when mobile phones are in the way. With sheer musicianship, Julia Jacklin achieved just this. Playing out her acclaimed debut album, Don't Let The Kids Win, in full, the singer and guitarist subdued her attentive audience into an immersive melancholic pleasure.
Helping Jacklin in this endeavour was a three-piece band dedicated to replicating her album's original sound - to spectacular results. The sold out audience watched the 26-year-old emerge on stage basked in darkness, a silhouette as she sang. The Blue Mountains singer masterfully led various changes in pace, the band never over-compensating, with members coming and going as necessary.
Variations in tone highlighted the diverse talent embodied within Jacklin's music. The upbeat chorus in Coming Of Age allowed for enthusiastic singalongs, whereas the introspective LA Dream was a captivating minor ballad. Crowd appraisal was not exclusive to any particular type, each track earning Jacklin reverent attention (anyone who betrayed moments of silence were quickly hushed). Jacklin showed her appreciation with a surprise encore, performing an old track, Santafel, her lyrical openness evidently deep within her songwriting roots from the beginning.
