Canberra is lucky to have a great range of artists that are vocally diverse and this acoustic show didn’t let down the crowd of around 90 that attended.
Presented by Stu Tyrrell, 40 people attended early to catch the opening set by Georgia Davis. Davis has an astoundingly beautiful singing voice that fits her alternative folk style perfectly. Her songs about real life circumstances are quirky and fun, turning into songs full of dark humour and a twisted morbidity. My favourite songs of hers on the night were ‘Stalker Love Song’ and ‘Death is Cheaper than Divorce’. Playing both guitar and ukulele, she was a real pleasure to listen too.
Jonathan Devoy (solo) is a well-known artist who has spent over ten years on stage in bands. With just an acoustic guitar you can find him performing several times a year in Canberra. His voice is raw, husky, gritty and full of passion. Opening his set with an original love song, he then launched into covers that included ‘Call Me’, Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)’ and ‘…Baby One More Time’ (Brittany Spears). The highlight for me was the crowd intently watching him set up his loop pedal before singing his newest cover ‘Human’ (Rag’n’Bone Man), which we really enjoyed hearing.
Canberra locals Tundrel took to the stage as a trio, with singer Jason Hore backed by just an acoustic and a bass guitar. They performed original songs from The Tundrel Tomes Vol 1. It was something really special to hear Hore’s powerful voice so clearly and acoustically, as when he sings you can feel he is transported to somewhere else. His long, soaring vocals have the ability to enchant, hitting you with waves of emotion and leaving the majority of the room standing mesmerised. They sung two covers: ‘Hurt’ (NIN) and a slower version of ‘Through the Glass’ (Stone Sour) which was absolutely beautiful.
Stu Tyrrell is a Sydney-based folk artist who is touring to promote his debut EP Celtic Roots. His alternative acoustic folk style has a stomp rock feel that fringes on acoustic metal. Vocally he sounds like old school metal. The EP features an original track ‘The Saint of Kings Cross’ and four traditional English/Celtic arrangements covered in his personal style as well as an acoustic version of ‘Number of the Beast’ (Iron Maiden). Very professional on stage, he played fast to fit in all of the songs from the EP.
Silentia are well known in the local scene and play acoustic covers of mainstream metal and rock songs. Never using a setlist, every show is different. Regrettably I couldn’t stay for their whole set but it was awesome hearing them cover songs by Whitesnake and their cover of ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ (Ozzy Osbourne) received a huge round of applause by the crowd. They play regularly at The Basement so check the Facebook page for upcoming events.
