Sarah Blasko Review

Sarah Blasko

Well, I wrote a review for the Lisa Mitchell concert earlier this year, thought I should write one for Sarah Blasko.

Keep in mind this is probably a very bias review since Blasko is my favourite artist at the moment, and have been since seeing her at the Shakespeare play Hamlet back in 2008. I did go to her concert last year as well being held at the Forum while this one was held at The Palais theatre.

Anyways to my review....

When I arrived, I came in and the act before was Seja, who is supporting her through this tour. I had never heard of her before I booked my tickets to the concert so quick download of her album and listen before coming to Sarah Blasko was in order. Her album was ok. It was nice, and I now have it saved on my iPod playlist. When I walked in she was near the end of her set, and although I heard only 3 songs, the last one to me was just...noise. 3 keyboards playing high pitch tones all at once...sorry, it wasn’t for me. Positive she was tall. If anyone knows me, they know how much I envy to date a tall chick. But I digress.

Sarah Blasko came out on stage to a round of applause, which is commonplace these days. Adoring fans were waiting, and it was clear to me from the outset that the majority of the people knew exactly who she was, which was good. No idiots sitting next to me going 'What's this song?'

It got underway, and its two days later so I cannot remember her play list if I had a gun to my head. I will speak about the sound and the experience I did have though. Her first two songs seem flat to me, the instruments seem to be dominating her voice. At the Forum I remember a crystal clear voice, here it sounded like she was competing to be heard. However, by the 3rd song, her voice was heard amazingly. Beautiful, elegant, like a siren. Maybe a simple adjustment to the speakers? Maybe the equipment was tuned too loud? Who knows?

The night rolled on, and to my delight Sarah was actually quite funny. Interaction with the audience was all most a comedy routine. In between every second song, there was a laugh to be had, either by an audience member shouting something out, a band member mentioning something or Sarah forgetting lyrics to a song. Unfortunately this happen twice in the evening. The first time, she went through the song, basically unnoticeable to the audience. However, the second time was quite noticeable when she started giggling. It was during her cover of Flame Trees, yes the Cold Chisel classic, Flame Trees. A quick 'I should know the lyrics to this song by now' was followed with the completion of the song.

Honestly, I don’t mind artists forgetting lyrics or changing them, it actually shows they are not miming and reveals that they are just human after all. Her voice still remains an amazing sound to my ears though. Even though this can be merely oversights, or as Sarah put it jetlag, her voice remains as clear, and good as ever.

Now for the finale. I believe these days Encores are a given. Performers go off stage, and the crowd cheers and screams and we all know its going to come, especially when she hasn't sung two of her most recognisable songs (All I Want and Explain). To the few (I counted 7) people who left thinking this was the end, they were mistaken. Sarah came back out and sung these last two songs with beauty and clarity and to me, is what seals the concert for me. Explain is a pleasure to hear at anytime of day, and is my favourite song of hers. However, disappointing was the fact she didn’t sing Queen of Apology. For some reason, I just love that song.

As the credits roll, I gave this a strong 5/5 purely cause I am bias. As objective as I could get, I would still give her 4.25/5.

Any questions please ask or leave comments.

Regards

Mr G