Sarah Blasko
Scott Theatre, Sun 15 April



Playing theatre shows across Australia was the tour that Sarah Blasko really wanted to do - and she thrived in the new conditions. Replacing the electric guitars tonight were French horn, violin, flute, double bass, cello, drums and acoustic guitar. Sarah Blasko from the first moment was a sight to behold, beautifully elegant in a red and white striped shirt, high waisted black skirt, white stockings and cute black shoes. Immediately swooning to Robert Cranny's beautiful arrangement of her songs, Blasko re-proved not just that she's an amazing singer, but also that she's an incredible song-writer: bold, honest and poignant. As charismatic as the best of them, in her own special way, Blasko danced like a puppet with limbs mechanically swinging back and forth, one foot turned in, head going from side to side. At the end of one song her body even fell forward to rest, as if the giant puppeteer above her had become too tired of the dancing puppet and threw it down out of exhaustion.

Minus a support band, Blasko constructed her first set, roughly forty-five minutes long, to a haunting and surreal atmosphere with The Albatross being a great example of the string section working wonders. Perfect Now was an absolutely beautiful tear-jerker, Always Worth It and Amazing Things continued to tug at the heart-strings whilst simultaneously bringing about big smiles.

Breaking the calm tone of proceedings, a few crowd members decided to call out their love for Blasko. At first this was humorous, but as the comments kept coming across the night, they quickly became just plain rude - even interrupting Blasko mid-sentence at one point.

After intermission, the second set began wonderfully with just Blasko and Cranny performing a stripped back version of Don't You Ever. The charming little surprises kept coming as The Audreys joined Blasko on stage, performing The Woman By The Well, their own Pale Dress, and a slow-slow-slowed down version of INXS' Don't Change, complete with a comical banjo solo from Tristan Goodall.

The show ended in a blur as the songs became even better still, with I Could Never Belong To You, Explain, Always On This Line and Planet New Year exhibiting brilliant musicianship and some tidy dancing. Coming back for an encore, the song which started it all for Blasko, Your Way, rounded of a luscious and rich night of entertainment.

Steven Williams