Live Review: Train, JR Reyne

JR Reyne's got a big voice and he doesn’t need much more than an acoustic guitar to command his audience tonight. Starting things off with a cover of The Stone Roses' I Wanna Be Adored and his "baby girl's" favourite song I'm On Fire by Bruce Springsteen, he encourages a few "Oh-oh-ohs" and reminds us it's not every day we get to sing together in Palais Theatre.

"I just put a record out," he tells us, which is a weird segue considering he then plays a song that's not on that record. "This one's not from Go On Easy — Volume 1 but Volume 2, which is on its way soon!" The song has a moody drop-down guitar solo in the middle and builds up to a huge strumming finish. As Reyne improvises, he realises that a ballad isn’t the right choice to follow on from this song, so he stops and takes a moment to tune his guitar. He then chooses to play a song that is featured on his new record, called My O My, which features a meaty guitar riff.

We hear the sound of a steam engine pulling into a station. Strobe lights flash and horns honk as Train arrive on stage. The band roll in ready to get the party started with their latest single Drink Up from their new album A Girl A Bottle A Boat. "This is our final show in Australia on this tour because we’ve saved the best for last!” shouts frontman Pat Monahan. "Thanks for not standing up ‘cause it takes the pressure off me," he jokes. "So while you’re sitting, I only have to give you about 40%." Everyone immediately gets up on their feet for Save Me, San Francisco and then he notches it up to 100%.

Monahan teases us with a chorus of Play That Song before telling us that we're not ready for it yet. Instead, he continues with Meet Virginia and in celebration of two fiery electric guitar solos, he throws some free band T-shirts into the audience. “We don't often get to play intimate theatres in the United States, so I wanna sing a song for you with just my voice and no microphone or instruments, which is what this venue is built for." Monahan projects his strong vocals for an a cappella version of Always Midnight off solo album, Last Of Seven.

The band take a moment to show us how yesterday's music meets today's music with a medley bookended by their own songs including Mermaid, Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You, Sia’s Cheap Thrills, Shawn Mendes’ Treat You Better, and Lost And Found. "Now we're ready!" Monahan shouts as they properly jump into Play That Song. A surprise cover of Queen and David Bowie’s classic Under Pressure is a welcome addition to the set before Train reach the end of the line with Drops Of Jupiter.