Live Review: Live Nation's Ones To Watch @ Smith St Hotel, Melbourne

Noah Redfern

Last night, the brand new Smith St Hotel was host to Ones To Watch - an American Apparel-backed evening of up-and-coming acts featuring GAZAL, Miles Nautu and Lara Buchanan.

GAZAL, Miles Nautu, Lara Buchanan
GAZAL, Miles Nautu, Lara Buchanan(Credit: Connor Sprague, Supplied, She Is Aphrodite)

Last night the brand new Smith St Hotel was host to Ones To Watch - an American Apparel-backed evening of up-and-coming acts featuring GAZAL, Miles Nautu and Lara Buchanan.

A platform for developing artists, Live Nation’s Ones To Watch is a conduit for fresh sounds - a place to hear the latest and greatest in Australia's wider music scene. Since 2021, OTW has served Australian artists and fans with hot new artists returning to Melbourne with last night’s performance at the brand-new Smith St Hotel in Fitzroy.

Opening the night was the brilliant GAZAL. Sounding like a mesmerising fusion of Erykah Badu and FKA twigs, the Australian/Lebanese singer was a seriously formidable performer. Over funky drill, DnB and afro-beat-influenced rhythms, GAZAL gently wove her way between beats to create a groovy vibe like no other.

Balancing both a clubby and somehow intimate flavour, GAZAL was seriously a sight and sound to behold. Backpack was a clear crowd favourite, with the cheeky Dora The Explorer reference, while ONION (stfu) was a proper banger. Genuinely an inspired performer, GAZAL really lived up to the name of the event - keep two eyes on this one.

Next up was jazz-rap artist Miles Nautu. A born storyteller, the First Nations/Fijian Sydney-based rapper showed clear confidence in his skillset. Acting as not only MC, Miles also very clearly served as band leader for the brilliant group of jazz musicians that made up his band. Cruising through conscious-rap tracks like closer and lost, Miles also teased listeners with a cool cover of OutKast’s So Fresh, So Clean - a southern hip-hop classic, complete with new verses from Nautu. A dope new voice from Sydney’s underrated rap scene, Miles Nautu was a true wordsmith.

The final performer of the night, Lara Buchanan, ended things on a high. An artist that truly deserves to perform in front of thousands, Buchanan had an arena-pop sound even in the intimacy of the small pub-style venue. Sounding like an Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams hybrid, Lara’s songwriting and performing shone on balladic tunes Gold and Only Once - big songs, songs with a vision. Lara Buchanan is going to be headlining festivals before too long.

Ones To Watch has shown off an impressive lineup of talent last night. Make sure to check out all three of these talented artists as soon as possible, as they will be superstars in no time.