There's a list of performers I've been dying to see, slowly I've been whittling the list away. Another was scratched off the list last night when I saw the beautiful Brooke Fraser at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne. And boy she didn't disappoint.
Fraser made a major departure from her usual style with her most recent album, the sublime, "Brutal Romantic". Sure, she is the same amazing singer / songwriter, but the acoustic sounds were joined by some awesome beats. This resulted in a great showcase of those songs last night. With her three piece band, and a pretty impressive light show, Brooke mostly performed songs from the new record to a very appreciative crowd.
Opening with the haunting, "Psychosocial" and followed by the great, "Magical Machine", we knew we were in for something special, and different. She opened with a vocoder mic that added to the feel of my favourite song from the new album. The other newies sounded fantastic as well, "Brutal Romance" was big, beautiful and dramatic, with Fraser's voice sounding glorious.
A major highlight of the night was her performance of "Thunder". She'd encouraged the audience to dance during this song, even if they were bad. She claimed she'd be a worse dancer than them. She wasn't, her try scoring dive, which was pretty hilarious, proved she had the moves. The song sounded great, and the audience loved singing along, a good sign when your audience is singing every word of an album track!
The other highlight from the new album was the first single, "Kings & Queens". This is another great sing along track and the crowd was certainly loving it. The reason I loved this so much was because from my spot up the front, on the side, I could the see the roadie standing in the wings, dancing madly and loving this song. Was a beautiful, natural moment that made the show even more special.
Naturally Brooke broke out a few of her classics for the crowd, and to go with the new electronic feel, she gave each of these tracks a makeover. While I still love all the originals more, it was a nice treat to hear these versions. "Shadowfeet", "Arithmetic", "Deciphering Me" and "Something in the Water", were all so popular with the crowd, and Brooke clearly loved hearing the audience sing along, and sing we did. These are truly great songs, and I was so happy to hear them.
Vocally Fraser was on fire all night, she sounded angelic and her powerhouse voice sounded just as great live. She is a effortless performer, and her moment between songs chatting the crowd were great and very natural. She was genuinely funny in a completely awkward way that makes a crowd go crazy.
What an amazing night, am so glad I went along. I look forward to the next time she tours Melbourne! If you get a chance, go see her - it's most certainly worth it!
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