Angus and Julia Stone – Palace Theatre

Angus and Julia Stone
Palace Theatre
March 25, 2010

Angus and Julia Stone are stealing more hearts with each performance across Australia.

As the Stones continue their nation-wide tour to promote their latest album, Down the Way, this bro-sis team is rapidly becoming the epicentre of the indie-acoustic scene. From Julia’s long locks and flowing dresses, to Angus’ larger than life beard stuffed under a feather-topped hat, this is the coolest bohemian duo in town. They’re bringing ‘hippie’ back.

At first, it looked to be one of those ‘sing-along’ gigs – you know the ones, where everyone sways in unison and sings so loud (and out of tune) that you can’t actually hear the band that you payed good money to see play. But when the opening bars of the intro subsided and Angus and Julia launched into the opening number, the duo took over the stage in their own unique and charming way. A blanket of silence was draped across the Palace Theatre, tucking in the crowd for an evening of pure bliss. The audience was treated to a full hour-and-a-half set that exceeded all of my expectations (which were already high after seeing them in 2008). Angus and Julia Stone have excelled themselves, both musically and performance-wise.

From the crowd’s reaction, one thing was clear: the boys adore Julia and the girls love Angus. A heartfelt performance of ‘Draw Your Swords’ by Angus was both gentle and powerful; and what solo by a male performer would be complete without an army of girls at the front squealing “I love you!” Julia delighted the crowd with her impressive vocal range and vast musical ability, as she dominated the trumpet, keyboard, guitar, harmonica and vocals throughout the night. Angus is a charmer with his laid-back persona, but his sister seemed to be the one that held the show together.

The bond between the pair is as evident on stage as it is in their music. They are totally in sync, but when you’re blood-related this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. As Julia completes a solo of the unreleased track ‘Black Jacket’, Angus confesses he finds it “difficult to play after Julia has sung”. He goes on to say how blessed he feels to play with her. They hug, tears are shed, and the show goes on.

Considering Down the Way had only been out on shelves a fortnight prior to the performance, the new songs were surprisingly well-received. They played a variety of songs from their debut album A Book like This, and also ventured back to their early Chocolates and Cigarettes EP. Julia’s acoustic cover of ‘You’re The One That I Want’, from Grease, was an odd but pleasant touch. She managed to turn a cheesy theme song into a quaint little acoustic number (and this time it was ok to sing along).

The encore was a trio of vastly different songs: the ever-popular ‘Just a Boy’, which showed the band in their element, allowing Julia to drift and twirl around the stage. Support group Boy and Bear were rounded up for a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ – a rather upbeat end to the night, I thought. But just when we figured the show was over, that we’d got our money’s worth and it was time to go home, Angus and Julia kindly asked if we’d mind if that they play just one more. They closed with a nice little performance of ‘Santa Monica Dreams’, for a mellow finish to a splendid evening.