Civic Theatre, Newcastle
Friday October 3, 2014 :
An amazing lyricist, Missy Higgins has a knack for connecting with her audience through the vivid and engaging stories she tells in her songs. So it’s fitting that she has released her latest album, Oz, with a beautifully written and presented book – also titled Oz. She also kept the audience enthralled at her Newcastle show with snippets of her tales from the book.
As her latest album is all covers of Australian artists, the stories in the book are a mixture of teen memories that the songs conjure for Higgins and what the artists/songs mean to her.
One of the first stories she shared on stage was about her trip to East Timor to entertain the troops in 2001, and meeting Paul Dempsey from Something for Kate for the first time – who was also on the tour. Higgins had written a “gushy” fan letter to Paul only six months earlier and spent the trip embarrassed by this. In her book, she says, “something about Paul’s lyrics on that record [Echolalia] spoke directly to my teenage angst, my despair at not understanding my place in the world.” Well, I’m afraid this review may turn into something like a gushy fan letter, as I feel exactly the same way about Higgin’s 2004 album, The Sound of White – however, I don’t think Missy and I will be meeting any time in the near future so I’m pretty safe.
Stepping onto stage at the Civic Theatre in Newcastle wearing a floral wreath around her neck, and her pregnant belly protruding beneath a ukulele, Higgins was radiant. The audience wore huge grins for the entire concert and were clearly drawn in by her down-to-earth charm, humour and – of course – stunning voice.
Higgins opened with a cover of Slim Dusty’s ‘The Only Disappointment’ and then took us back to our angst-filled teenage years with numbers from The Sound of White, including ‘The Special Two’, ‘This is How it Goes’, ‘Ten Days’ and ‘Scar’ – while effortlessly flitting from guitar to keyboard and back again.
She then moved onto songs from Oz. As she explained during the show, the process of picking songs to cover wasn’t as simple as choosing a few greatest hits everyone knows. Higgins has researched each song to find her own connection to the lyrics and the story the writer is trying to portray – and she did a beautiful job of owning every cover through her delivery.
In her book, Higgins explains her choice of covers for the album as, “songs I liked and reckoned I could sing well, and stuff.” However, the theme comes through as much more than that. Subconsciously or not, Higgins has picked other amazingly talented song-writers who draw you in with rich stories of the highs and lows of love and life. Like Higgin’s own lyrics, even the brightest pop song has a slightly dark and intriguing undertone.
In Newcastle, every song seemed to connect with the audience through its beautiful lyrics and Higgin’s outstanding vocal talents – no matter what genre – pop, jazz, rock or folk ballad. This was made even more special by the talented band and Sydney Chamber Orchestra String Quartet, who joined her on stage.
Higgin’s show took us on an intimate journey and left us wanting more. After a roaring standing ovation, everyone appeared to pile out of their seats and head straight to the merchandise to purchase a copy of the book and CD – and hear more about Higgin’s intriguing past and musical inspiration.
Reviewer and Photographer: Jessie Reid
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