Live Review: Sampa The Great, Thando, Drmngnow

There's a Sampa The Great patchwork throw hanging on the The Night Cat's outside wall on Young Street, Fitzroy and Birds And The BEE9-inspired murals decorate the Johnston Street side.

Drmngnow take the stage first with an opening track that references ancestors as a dancer pulls shapes in front of the stage, the crowd respectfully forming a half circle to leave him with plenty of dancing space. Footage of a protest is projected onto two pull-down screens at the back of the stage. The chorus lyrics from one of their songs, Australia Does Not Exist, soon appear on the screens as Drmngnow present this song. Didge, clapsticks, keys and drums underscore a rotating cast of vocalists. There's gorgeous female vocal riffing over the frontman Neil Morris's rapping and the audience's generous applause reflects this outfit's brilliance.

She features on REMI's latest single My People and Thando is our main support this afternoon. And, holy fuck! That voice is surely incapable of hitting a bung note. Thando hits her stride from the very first note of Work and her vocal runs are next-level. She fronts a three-piece at present, backed by keys and drums. "Why don't you do something/That makes you feel something/Before you slip awa-yay-ay" - well sung, Thando! Her song Something is an inspiration. The crowd pulsates to the groove as bass keys throb underfoot. Thando closes her eyes, enters the zone and there are the broadest smiles imaginable on the faces of crowd members.

She then presents a song that's "for anyone who's ever felt like they have to change something about themselves to make other people feel comfortable", which Thando stresses is very important to her. We well up and it's not even teary Tuesday! There's a key change that coaxes enthusiastic "WOO!"s from the crowd. Thando is a superstar in the making.

After a few puffs from the smoke machine to create atmosphere, Sampa The Great (Sampa Tembo to her family) appears on stage - following her white-clad backing band - wearing a spiky gold headdress that calls to mind The Statue Of Liberty and a shimmering transparent cape over white bodice and pants. REMI is introduced to the stage song two and Tembo explains they wrote Flowers (on which he features) on a rainy day.

"Being here where I am, happy and joyful... it wasn't always like this," Tembo admits of her journey so far and Protect Your Queen is particularly poignant. Tembo tells us she's expressing "the most vulnerable parts" of herself through the songs on her latest mixtape, which took out The Australian Music Prize earlier this year. "It's not easy to come up here and express myself," she stresses, but Tembo certainly looks at ease throughout her performance this afternoon.   

Tembo tells us she wrote Black Girl Magik for her little sister Mwanje, because she wanted to know what she saw when she looked in the mirror. The song's accompanying video, a visual feast, plays on the screens while the band present this empowering song. She then encourages us to participate in a call-and-response to open Bye River. Tembo is so incredibly humble, clutching her heart, grinning and shaking her head in disbelief while the audience applauds wildly, whoops and hollers. Before performing her song of the same name, Tembo tells us to trust our Inner Voice before introducing her little sister to the stage to demonstrate her singing prowess. Mwanje wears a beautiful tiara and Sampa beams as her little sister shines under the spotlight. Sampa Tembo then tells us they're gonna bring a bit of Africa to us.

After announcing, "I'm not gonna change who I am," Tembo segues into I Am Me, introducing each of her backing vocalists separately at the tail end of this song and allowing them to have their moment. Tembo invites her team to the stage to take a bow. "Thank you guys for supporting a dream," she concludes and Sampa The Great's the tonic our souls crave right now.