There's a lot of (chaperoned) children filing up the stairs into Margaret Court Arena, which bodes well for Vance Joy's future earnings. Socks with lyrics from his songs  — eg "You wear your socks to bed, that's what I do" from Emmylou — are genius merch items. 

Before Joy has a chance to pay tribute to recently deceased artist Prince, Holy Holy hit us with Nothing Compares 2 U, introducing the track as a song many don't realise His Royal Purpleness wrote. We hear a tender side to Timothy Carroll's vocal that has previously gone unnoticed. Would've loved to hear Oscar Dawson unleash on Prince & The Revolution's Let's Go Crazy guitar solo, though. Holy Holy certainly have what it takes to achieve the same degree of success as tonight's headliner. Don't be tardy to the party.

Finally Vance Joy's The Fire And The Flood tour lands Down Under after his sold out headline tour of the States. There's a simple backdrop that resembles marbled paper in front of which "V.A.N.C.E J.O.Y" is spelt out, each letter hanging separately in white font, all caps. As Joy's band strikes up there's an instrumental intro before the man himself enters. Joy takes no time to warm up, busts straight into Mess Is Mine and immediately his easy manner and gentle style are on display. Joy's lyrics are always worth tuning into, every word and creative turn of phrase forms beautiful images in our minds.

As Joy introduces a song about unrequited love, a neighbour in the crowd announces, "This is a really cool song!" and he's not wrong. The lyricism during From Afar ("But I've been living on the crumbs of your love and I'm starving now") brings a realisation that Joy is a younger, hotter Paul Kelly; his songs truly come alive tonight. We're already won over and then enter Wasted Time ("Why? Why do you go wasting your youth on me?") — constant gigging has strengthened Joy's already adept vocals and his portrayal is touching. He's always had a natural presence about him on stage, but these days Joy confidently provides insight into the inspiration behind his songs; this banter is hilarious and breaks up the heartfelt tone of the majority of his material. We are then treated to a couple of songs from his God Loves You When You're Dancing EP, which Joy performs solo. Play With Fire is simply stunning — delicately strummed melodies that explode once jubilant brass enters the arrangement. Joy tells us that learning what a "snaggletooth" is prompted him to write a song bearing that title. 

Crowd favourite Georgia coaxes further PDAs, perhaps inspired by the bit that goes: "The way you kiss me will work each time." And Joy smashes those sustained notes that close this song out! What's the bet Riptide will be the set closer? Well we're glad we didn't put money on that one 'cause it's not! But Joy's breakthrough hit single certainly doesn't disappoint and the resultant flurry of swaying bodies sure must look impressive from the stage. A cover of Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al seems an odd choice of cover, but during this song the band play their arses off and their joy is contagious. 

Joy plays grandparent-friendly music that cuts through age demographics and the whole Arena swoons to his songs — they should sell smelling salts next to the socks at the merch stand. This artist truly is something special and so much more than just the guy who wrote/performed that song from the Medibank ad.