Live Review: Vera Blue, Thandi Phoenix, Lakyn

Some may recognise Lakyn from a past season of The Voice, which is something that he has in common with the main act tonight. Like many other fellow reality television show runners-up, he’s broken away from the mould and reinvented himself.

Tonight, he plays us new material from his upcoming EP that’s due out in a few months, including his latest single, View Looks So Good. His faux fur coat may have seemed like the perfect idea for a winter’s night, until things start heating up pretty quickly. He peels off layers to reveal his new T-shirt merchandise featuring him eating an Oreo McFlurry printed on it, and shares a cover of Mario’s Let Me Love You with a unique arrangement that boasts his beautiful falsetto. Lakyn leaves a lasting impression with his raw talent, and he’s only just scratched the surface.

Part South African, part Australian, Thandi Phoenix fuses her dance-ready anthems with inspired drum ‘n’ bass tribal rhythms. Wearing sparkly pink heart-shaped earrings branded with her name, she loudly makes her mark about what she stands for. “Do what makes you happy, be proud of yourself and chase what sets your goddamn heart on fire!” she tells us. Phoenix has an infectious energy as she moves around the stage and enthusiastically taps her drum pads with light up drumsticks that glow with each touch. She brings it down a bit with a song for anyone who's dealing with losing a loved one and sends them strength with her emotional powerful piano driven ballad to showcase her soothing and soulful vocals. "Home doesn't have to be a place; it's a feeling, and some people can make you feel that way. Right now, that's how I'm feeling," she tells us.

Opening with the first track from Perennial, her debut album under her current moniker, Vera Blue (aka Celia Pavey) surrenders her magnificent vocals before us. She’s literally glowing in the dark with a tasseled outfit beneath her flowing red locks. The powerful chorus kicks in and tambourine light-panels illuminate the stage with each strike. "Being able to perform songs from my album for you is pretty special to me," she tells us before continuing with Overachiever (a song she reveals is about having a crush on someone and not knowing if you're having real feelings). Pavey begins to hand out flowers to the audience like he’s having her own Bachelorette rose ceremony, and we can’t wait to be chosen.

As she moves through songs in each chapter of her intensely personal album, we’re taken on a journey of heartbreak that combines her folk roots with bold electronic production elements. She includes a few special additions, including some acoustic tracks from her debut Vera Blue EP Fingertips and Slumberjack’s Fracture (she features on vocals), and Pavey absolutely nails her triple j Like A Version cover of Jack Garratt’s Breathe Life. Vera Blue is an unstoppable force continuing to flourish into a magnificent and empowering artist.