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Tivoli - Thursday Feb 1 In a world where everything has been done, where every new artist invites a spot-the-influence reflex, a young woman with a harp has proven that originality can not only exist, but be exciting, and fill the Tivoli with little more than 4ZzZ airplay for support. Support Ned Collette from Melbourne would have been new to most of the crowd, but he quickly wins us over. With an electric guitar and a small amp, Collette's songs start out as simple Nick Drake-style musings, but then explode into some fascinating territory when he employs a sampling pedal. This allows him to overdub multiple layers of intricate guitar work, along with percussion and vocals while he is still in the process of performing the song. This way, the songs gradually build up to impressive crescendos. We should hear more from this promising talent.
Joanna Newsom immediately endears herself to the audience by referring to our fair city as “Brissy”, and starts with a couple of songs from her first album The Milk Eyed Mender to get settled. As the set progresses, Newsom gives immaculate performances of Sawdust And Diamonds, Emily and Only Skin, three of the epic ten-minute pieces on her latest Ys album. Where the studio recordings of the latter two feature an orchestra, in the live environment Newsom demonstrates that she can provide all the accompaniment and counter-melodies required on the harp alone. She also makes occasional subtle changes to chords and adds embellishments and flourishes to keep it fresh for ears used to the CDs. Looking completely dwarfed by her instrument, Newsom tips up the 8-foot high orchestral harp to lean on her shoulder while she plays and sings songs as colourful as the strings she plucks and caresses. That voice, so rustic and full of character, has no trouble filling the highest reaches of the Tivoli. Like the harp itself, the whole performance seems poised on a precarious balance that could tip over at any moment and crush the fragile-looking creature at its centre, a tension Newsom seems to relish. When she introduces Inflammatory Writ, a song she hadn't played for a while, Newsom apologises in advance knowing she'll “muck it up”, but goes ahead with the song because it’s “such fun to play”. Even a coughing fit during one of the songs doesn’t upset her momentum, it just adds to the charm of a performer who's more interested in connecting with an audience and pushing herself than giving a studious recital. She does one new song, an “old Scottish song”, and returns to her first album to close with Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie, followed by an encore with Peach Plum Pear, and then she is gone. Joanna Newsom has risen to the plane where those greatest and most distinctive of female performers reside. She represents the third point in a kind of holy trinity with Kate Bush and Bjork as female artists who have no frame of reference other than truly break-the-mould originals like themselves. Let's hope she keeps coming back to Brissy. GARRY WILLIAMS
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