Live Review

Montaigne @ The Spiegeltent

I have a love/hate relationship with shows in the Spiegeltent as part of the Brisbane Festival. On one hand, they are always excellently crafted, have incredible displays of musicianship, and are packed full of punters. On the other hand, the shows are always only 60 minutes long, and you never get to see the excellent support artists the acts that are playing usually have on their tours. Montaigne was no exception.

Playing the first sold out show of her album tour in the Aurora tent, we missed out on seeing the awesome support acts, Bec Sandrige and Woodes, who were accompanying her on the other legs of her tour. However, Montaigne was a force to be reckoned with, and the glorious heights of her voice left the punters speechless.

Entering the stage dressed in a white and silver pirate top, a red velvet coat and her trusty vegan docs, she opened her set with an A capella verse of hit single, I’m A Fantastic Wreck. Her band joined in in the first chorus, and by the time she got to the hook of, ‘Would you love me?’ the audience was singing along and reaching for her hand. After some witty stage banter about not having an iron backstage, and playing the best track first, she proceeded to tell the crowd she had just, ‘Released an album full of bangers,’ which she was going to play.

Launching into album track Greater Than Me, her voice became more captivating the longer she sang. Encouraging the audience to sing and dance along, she accompanied her singing with almost sign language like dance moves to match the literal lyrics that make her blunt pop so likeable and relatable. The almost theatrical and avant-garde style of her performance matched totally with the circus like tent she was playing in, which made her performance that much more enjoyable.

During Lonely she tried (and succeeded) in conducting some rather difficult audience participation. One side of the audience was singing the hook part of the chorus, whilst the other side (and her) was singing the higher part that sits over the hook. It was a very clever arrangement, and I was impressed she managed to get the audience to participate.  

After a few more tracks, such as Til It Kills Me (my personal favourite off the new album), Glorious Heights, I’m Behind You, and What You Mean To Me, she jumped off the stage without explanation, and during the first few bars of Consolation Prize, walked to the center of the crowd where she sang the entire tear jerker standing in the middle of the audience, singing on our floor level. At only 5.4” you would think the crowd would swallow her, but her voice cascaded over the audience, and many punters were hugging and crying by the end of the song.

Returning to the stage, she launched into the filler track on the album, the interlude before Come Back To Me, however, she had filled it out with layers and layers of looped vocals, and it was absolutely captivating, like nothing I have ever seen or heard before. Almost operatic in tone, her vocals, whilst lyricless made me feel emotions I didn’t know I had.  Her performance reminded me of a weird hybrid Bjork. This followed into the track Come Back To Me which now had a totally different feel to the performance.

With not many songs left in her set, she finished up with an extended performance of In The Dark with guttural singing in the hook and more of her mesmerising theatrical dance moves. Single Because I Love You rounded out the night, and if the audience wasn’t already standing, there would have been a standing ovation. 

She came back on stage and picked up her guitar for the first time of the night for an acoustic rendition of I Am Not An End for the encore piece. After some banter about how much she hates waiting for encores, she launched into the song, her vocals cascading over the first chorus. The band joined in halfway through and the whole performance ended on a high. After yet another rapturous applause, she left the stage and the audience filed out.

After the show she signed autographs whilst sipping on a cup of tea for a good 45 minutes, smiling and chatting without a hitch or an eye roll. Her authenticity is refreshing, and it is plain to see the incredible level of musicianship she possesses. If Montaigne maintains this level of performance and songwriting, she has a bright future ahead of her. The show was an almost ethereal experience and I hope to see many, many more.

- Olivia Shoesmith

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