Live Review: Tones & I, Adrian Eagle

“Adrian, you are an angel”, yelled one punter several times over before the man himself, Adrian Eagle, acknowledged her. The praise was earned, as the soul singer shined up alone on stage. The power of positivity was in full affect, with a big smile and nothing but love and appreciation in his words. 

A big chunk of the sold-out crowd rocked up early and the Adelaide artist got a solid reception from them. His final song‚ A.O.K‚ was his standout moment, with the crowd singing along. He’s the kind of guy you immediately gravitate towards and want to see succeed. Put simply, dude’s an absolute angel.

Adrian Eagle @ Wollongong UniBar. Photo by Ben Nicol.

Tones & I, aka Toni Watson, began her set by pushing her hat down as close to her eyes as possible. When she nervously looked out to the crowd she was soaking in the moment, seemingly astounded by what she later referred to as possibly the biggest crowd of her tour. Her humility is so endearing and very reflective of her meteoric rise to fame, having gone from being a busker to killing it on the ARIA Singles Chart, all within the same year. Just like the act before her, Watson immediately gained the love of her audience and held it for the rest of the night.

The aforementioned nervousness barely lasted her first song, Watson spent the rest of the night dancing and bouncing along with her equally energetic crowd. Her cover of Flume and Chet Faker’s Drop The Game and her own track Johnny Run Away held us over for a while until we finally got treated to Dance Monkey. 

Tones & I @ Wollongong UniBar. Photo by Ben Nicol.

All popular artists have a hit song that causes fans to get their phones out, but surely this song might have broken some sort of venue record for most phones out recording at the same time. It was the undeniable highpoint of her set and acted as a strong reminder that Tones & I has no problem living up to the hype.