Live Review: Montaigne, ADKOB, Ripley

Ripley, an Adelaide-bred singer songwriter, opened the night with a modest collection of stories from his first solo EP, Bigger Than Me. Paying homage to a challenging past twelve months, Ripley gave us an achingly honest look into his experiences of death, grief but also the beauty of new life. Although being Ripley’s solo debut, his confidence and presence on stage was strong, asking the crowd to choose between songs either about unicorns or his two year old daughter. After deciding on the latter and giving us a beautiful lullaby of Harper’s Song, it turned out there really was a song about unicorns too. 

Sydney-based four piece ADKOB (A Different Kind Of Busy) brought a decent serving of dreamy psychedelic rock to the room, getting listeners moving and swaying. The percussion was what shone through the entire set, directing the movement of each track elegantly and neatly, but still letting the dreamy guitars shine. ADKOB are certainly one to wrap your ears around before they start touring their debut EP, A Different Kind Of Busy. 

After having recently made some very notable strides in the field of Australia’s female artists, Montaigne proved once again that she deserves to be recognised for not only her depth of song writing, but her talent on delivery. Despite her age, tracks like Clip My Wings and A Cinematic Plea For An End show she has developed as an artist well beyond her years. Each track, including a moving cover of Sia’s Chandelier, takes it’s time in building and then sprawling into elongated, soaring vocals, a signature sound of Montaigne herself. 

The second to last track, I’m A Fantastic Wreck, was a playful dance of childish xylophone and crashing percussion, a gutsy track that was the most well received by the crowd who cheered long enough to leave Montaigne speechless. Wrapping up with the title track of her latest single, In The Dark, we saw a quirkier, more theatrical performance that exploded and thrashed, a style that completely complements Montaigne as an artist and gives insight into the direction she is now heading.