Live Review: Washington, Ben Witt

It is impossible not to enjoy the picturesque outdoor setting of The Quarry. Now into its sixth season of critically acclaimed shows, the amphitheatre has firmly established itself as one of WA's premiere music venues, and continues to attract stars both international and Australian-owned. Opening proceedings as the sun set around him, local musician Ben Witt impressed from the very opening notes of a short solo set. Frontman for indie rockers The Chemist, Witt's guitar playing was the highlight, mixing squalls of feedback among delicate chiming. A genuine talent and a welcome start to the night.

Having supported Rufus Wainwright on the WA leg of his Australian tour only a few months ago, Megan Washington was clearly happy to be back in Perth again. With the sun down and a starlight ceiling in its place, the Melbourne-based songstress walked onstage to cheers and applause from the sold out audience. Resplendent in a black dress and a crown of flowers and armed with only her keyboard for much of the show, the singer's two-and-a-half hour set mixed crowd favourites The Hardest Part and Underground with an extensive selection of covers by the likes of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, with a particularly entertaining rendition of Salt-N-Pepa's Shoop thrown in for good measure. Her tendency for rambling between-song banter occasionally began to grate, but her vocals more than made up for it, taking centre stage throughout, most notably on her emotional interpretation of the Rowland S. Howard classic, Shivers.

Split into two halves by a fifteen-minute interval, the set was punctuated by appearances from support act Witt and a string quartet, adding flourishes to Washington's lovelorn tales. A request for the upbeat pop of her radio favourite single Sunday Best was quickly shut down, and her more danceable outlets generally ignored in favour of a few revealing new songs. The setting lent itself to a classier atmosphere, aided by the addition of strings and the venue's always underrated sound quality. The audio was crystal clear throughout, and the lighting as impeccable as always. The night ended with another cover, an a cappella rendering of Paul Kelly's Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air. With Washington alone on the microphone and the audience in total silence, her delicate vocal turn provided a fitting finale and an emphatic final reminder of the artist's undeniable gift.