For the first time ever I turned up to a concert after the support act had finished. I’ve always been annoyed by the whole support process as by the time the main act arrive you’ve usually had a gutful of all the tall people, drunk people and are tired of standing up. I remember at the Dandy Warhols, Kelly and I were so hot and ill that we left during the final couple of songs because we’d just had enough. In the case of last night’s Missy Higgins concert I had none of that (apart from tall people) so that by the time it was over it was perfect timing.
The concert was at the Tivoli – my favourite venu in Brisbane because of it’s intimacy. It’s an old wooden building that ooses old style theatrics from both of it’s floors. My only critisicm would be that the floor was a little more sloped or somethings so that the people at the back had just as good a view. Even one of the security guys there apologised to me about the inability to get a good look. I guess that’s why they have two big screens there so that you get a better look at the artist if you are at the back.
The only other time I’ve seen Missy Higgins was at Woodford a few years ago where she was the finale of the day. The crowd was huge, the stage was massive and the night was magical. She was performing under the pressure of having a huge first album and was a little bit serious in her approach to stage banter. Last night she was extremely funny with some great stories in between songs which is a sign that she is much more practised at performing. She still looks akward though when she can’t hide behind an instrument and must dance. Danielle reckon she looks a little bit like a chicken when she dances, but I can’t really poke fun at her since I’m not much of a dancer either. I just think she hasn’t found her feet when it comes to being a frontwoman of a band. She doesn’t know what to do with her hands.
Her voice was a brilliant as ever and it always shocks me some of the sounds she lets out from her little petite body. She has a disturbing ability to sound exactly like the cd which is both special and annoying. It’s great because she obviously doesn’t use effects on her cd when singing but it’s sucks in that the live experience is such a slave to the cd. I wouldn’t mind some deviations during the songs – she could play around with them a little.
Towards the end of the night she came out with something I’ve been waiting for years for someone to say. She said that encores are a little old fashioned and that we should pretend that they’ve walked off the stage, the crowd has wildly clapped and the band has come back on to play some more songs. She then proceeded to play Scar and finished with Steer. Everyone seemed pleased with that because it’s true – encores are a bit of a facade.
The concert pretty much lived up to my expectations, my mind wasn’t blown but it was a great performance. It sort of feels a little like Missy isn’t really challenging herself, she seems too comfortable. I can’t wait to see if her next album makes her take some risks – a little like Norah Jones does when she collaborates with people like Mike from Faith No More. Could we see a Missy and Frenzal Rhomb song?