Reviewed onTuesday April 5 (photo by Ashley Mar)
With couples, lone romantics and music lovers all gathered before them, Dallas Green and the latest form of City And Colour returned to the Enmore stage for the second time amid their latest bunch of Australian shows. While Sydney may not have had an audience marriage proposal as Melbourne did, the magic certainly filled the theatre from the get-go.
Presentation was paramount; the tidy, amp-filled stage left otherwise vacant before the room was bathed in lighting – sunset colours and twinkling lights all setting a cosy scene for what Green had in store. Making the Enmore feel akin to a Pinterest-worthy campsite setting amongst the Canadian Rockies (of course), the crisp drums of ‘Thirst’ sliced through the room and more recent tracks from 2013’s The Hurry And The Harm and last year’s If I Should Go Before You dominated proceedings.
Without saying more than a “thank you”, Green and his crew neatly powered through the first half of the evening. After cycling through his Fender Jazzmaster, Gibson guitars and custom Martin acoustic, Green then put them all aside as that lighting rained down for ‘Killing Time’. Popping his signature hat, and with shaker in hand, it was a dynamic scene to see Green serenade the mic almost hands-free before whipping the guitar back on and rolling into a vigorous close.
As if symbolically, Green was then left solo and we were in to the night’s next half, travelling back almost 11 years. One of the set’s few surprises was accompanied by audible crowd realisations a few bars in: ‘Hello, I’m In Delaware’ was slowed down, even more mellow and blue than ever, and cheers penetrated its pauses.
Mumbling barely more than five dry words before each song, Green’s captivating vocals commanded the “few mid-tempo sad songs” that followed. Blissful sing-alongs and communal harmonies across the audience ensued thanks to ‘Lover Come Back’, ‘Waiting…’ and ‘Sleeping Sickness’.
As the lights dimmed and the audience hummed with adoring chatter, a bursting encore impressively covered City And Colour’s full range with apparent ease. From ‘Woman’ to ‘Comin’ Home’, ‘The Girl’, ‘Fragile Bird’, ‘Body In A Box’ and finally ‘Little Hell’, it took a special few like Green and friends to make this transition across 11 years of tales so smooth. Keeping things as magic and intimate as ever, irrespective of the size of the room, City And Colour left the stage to buzz and grins aplenty.
