Reviewed on Sunday March 1

When Sharon van Etten does a headline show in Sydney, she likes to squeeze in as many of her musical friends as possible, as was evident at her show-turned-mini-music festival at the Factory Theatre.

The first of the three supports was fellow band member, Heather Woods Broderick. Striking a balance between dreamy and smoky while still comfortably in the realm of clarity, Broderick dutifully played a few songs from her new record (coming out in July) as well as a stunning cover of Kath Bloom/Bill Callahan’s ‘The Breeze/My Baby Cries’.

Tiny Ruins and their mellifluous melodies soon took to the stage for a six-song set that was the perfect auditory aperitif for the night. A natural with between-song audience chatter, bandleader Hollie Fullbrook told the crowd the story behind ‘The Ballad Of The Hanging Parcel’ (the most poetic childhood prank I’ve ever heard) and Tiny Ruins’ whole set floated flawlessly by.

Fresh from a Secret Garden appearance over the weekend, Jack Ladder appeared without his Dreamlanders and instead with pedal steel magician Jason Walker. Ladder was regularly self-assured during a stripped-back set that allowed his unmistakable baritone to take centre stage.

By the time Van Etten came onstage, the crowd had significantly thickened. With a full band, she played songs from her most recent release Are We There and a few from her 2012 breakthrough Tramp. Sharon (or ‘Shazza’, as she admitted to being called in England and Australia) commanded the crowd’s attention from start to finish with her masterfully controlled vocals and piercing eyes that looked at everyone and no-one.

Despite the deeply personal subject matter, the Brooklyn singer-songwriter was warm and let the audience become privy to her dry, witty asides between songs. About halfway through her set, she introduced an older song: “This song is called Leonard, but it’s not about Leonard… I was listening to a lot of Leonard Cohen, but it’s about someone else. Shocking.”

Punters were treated to a few new songs from her impending seven-inch including her latest release ‘I Don’t Want To Let You Down’ and an unrecorded, unnamed song whose fate is yet to be decided. But the set highlight was easily the last song before the encore, ‘Your Love Is Killing Me’, when Van Etten’s voice filled every corner of the room with almost physically uplifting emotional sounds. Hit single ‘Our Love’ wasn’t played at all, but instead, after being lured out from behind the stage by “Shazza” chants, she opted for ‘Serpents’ to close, leaving not one slippery soul disappointed.

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