The Tivoli is one of Brisbanes most beautiful venues, so it made sense that Australian music stars Angus and Julia Stone would showcase their beautiful songs in the atmospheric room. Joined by up and coming young hotshot Ruel, the nigh was set to be an all-star evenng of musical talent. 

The skewered demographic in the audience was bizarre - the punters seemed to be a mix of mums, stoners and young adults dressed as if they were on their way to Splendour In The Grass. For a Thursday night the crowd was quite lubricated, and were quite noisy (even during the set), but calmed down after the set had started.

Ruel at first seemed like an odd choice to support Angus and Julia Stone, as his songs were more upbeat and had bigger arrangements. However, the soulful voice that came from a boy of his age blew me away, and it was clear that his talent had won both the Stones and me over within minutes. At times during his set he picked up his guitar and showed that he was not just a great vocalist, but also a talented music. Don't Tell Me was a major highlight that came late in his set.

Angus and Julia Stone came to the stage early, at 9.15pm. With no middle support act, they played a long set (which I expected considering the amount of material they had to play through). Opening their set with Make It Out Alive, they set the tone of the evening to be mostly new material, which was refreshing from a band who has so many old bangers. Sleep Alone, Chateau and Bloodhound were album track highlights in their set, and older tracks Big Jet Plane  and For You also made an appearance, to the punters delights. Julia's lilting, soft voice weaved beautiful harmonies around Angus rougher one, and the brother sister duets were aurally pleasing to all ears in attendance. 

The only drawback to their otherwise chill set was the absolutely terrifying Egyptian bird statue that loomed over the stage like a shadow from my nightmares. Whilst aesthetically it added shadow and depth to the projections on the stage, bird frightened me to my core and made me not want to look at the stage, which I'm sure was not Angus and Julia Stone's intentions.  Redeeming this however, was a few surprise trumpet solos from Julia Stone - her skill on the brass instrument blew me away more than her delicate voice or Angus skilled guitar playing. 

Finally, they reached the end of their set and played the track we were all expecting - Snow, the title track from their most current record. What was unexpected though, was the sudden explosion of fake snow that errupted across the audience as it ended, sprinking through the air onto the grooving crowd of dancing audience members, adding an extra magical touch to what was already a magic evening. 

Olivia Shoesmith