Reviewed onFriday July 8 (photo by Ashley Mar)
George Maple made a bold return to Sydney for the start of her Australian tour with loads of new music and attitude. In fact, it was difficult to know whether to crudely grind or simply sway to her tunes, with a variety of new, grungier songs added to the setlist alongside her gentle, airy tracks from the past.
Jake Yuma got things started with some subtle beats, building the energy slowly as he warmed up and a bigger crowd was drawn into the space. Once the house lights were turned off, it was time to party.
UV Boi took the decks with confidence and style, and his syncopated electro beats gradually got the crowd moving. It’s a shame that the mix wasn’t quite right at this point in the night – the sound was foggy, and too quiet for his danceable beats. However, UV Boi did an excellent job of keeping the energy flowing and his original tracks were particularly memorable, filled with emotion and personality.
When George Maple hit the stage, it was clear that she had planned for this to be as much a show as a musical performance, and in this way her costumes were a nice touch. She was a shimmering vision in everything from gold coats to thigh-high boots and a sequined onesie, which added some colour to the stage. She danced sensually, adding to the ‘strip club’ atmosphere of some of her new tracks – not to mention the promise of an actual playful striptease when the crowd shouted the lyrics to ‘Gemini’.
The set drifted between ambient, relaxed tunes and harsher tracks with strong beats, with the latter working better to light up the audience. It was jolting at times to go from a high-energy track like ‘Sticks And Horses’ to a more atmospheric one that broke up the intensity and dancing. But the highlight of the night was a guest appearance from homegrown rapper Tkay Maidza, who instantly brought the mood right up to perform a new collaboration track. The pair bounced well off each other and their timing was powerful and polished.
Maple left everyone with a rendition of ‘Talk Talk’, however the show felt unfinished, with both support acts playing longer sets than she did. Though the fans shouted passionately for “one more song”, not keen on letting their Friday night slip away too early, the lights went up and that was that.
