Local muso Patrick James opened the show for Emma Louise at Sydney’s Metro Theatre, and the relaxed mood was instantly set by his catchy indie-folk tunes and banjo-playing backing vocalist Scotty.

Though the Metro was looking a little empty before he started playing, by the middle of his set the slow trickle of people had turned into a steady stream and almost filled the entire floor.

Between jokes and casual banter, his acoustic, nostalgic sounds were appreciated with near-silence contentment.

Thelma Plum hushed the crowd with her sugar sweet yet rich vocal ability and girly charm, opening with a pensive, lingering tune with hauntingly beautiful vocals, and following on with ‘Rosie’, also the title of her forthcoming national tour.

Combining both new material with older songs and a cover of Nick Cave, Plum and her backing guitarist and vocalist worked perfectly together to create incredibly delicate, memorable songs.

After a long interval and a continually swelling crowd, Emma Louise took to the stage with her backing band and soft blue lighting, conjuring up an eerie, elusive aura with ‘17 Hours’, before the more passionate ‘Mirrors’ and emotional ‘Cages’ had the audience listening with bated breath.

The ever-gracious songstress thanked the crowd before launching into ‘Boy’, complete with soft, powerful backing vocals and steady intensity.

After playing a few more songs from recent album Vs Head Vs Heart, the Brisbane-born singer had the entire venue in completely silent appreciation with ‘1000 Sundowns’, a heart-wrenching, reminiscent ballad from her EP Full Hearts and Empty Rooms.

Emma Louise’s highly anticipated cover of Alt-J’s ‘Tesselate’, originally performed earlier this year for Triple J’s Like A Version, had the crowd of young hipsters swaying and mumbling quietly along, before the ever-so-slightly more upbeat single ‘Jungle’ had heads nodding and bodies dancing across the room.

Closing the set with hazy lighting and a couple mystery-shrouded, soothing tracks, Emma Louise proved to the stunned audience, yet again, just how incredibly talented creative she really is.

Although the entire night was full of the kind of slow, relaxed music that’s usually found in the background at a little corner pub, it nestled right in and seemed perfectly at home and more than capable of bringing energy and life to The Metro.

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