Earlier this year Meg Mac finally released her debut album “Low Blows” which captivated listeners with honest and bold songs that perfectly captured her unique vocals and soulful sound. To coincide with the release she announced a massive headlining tour which saw all of the dates selling out instantaneously. Towards the end of the tour she had to re-schedule the remaining dates due to losing her voice. And while the two month extra wait was excruciating I now understand why it was so important that her vocals completely healed before she resumed the tour.
Walking onto the stage and into the spotlight to the opening chords of ‘Turning’ she intimately opened the show with just her powerful vocals. She instantly had the crowd in awe as she just stood there and belted out the notes. I never realised until that moment just how powerful her vocals were. She then quickly went straight into album favourites ‘Grace Gold’ and ‘Kindness’ while ‘Known Better’ and ‘Every Lie’ made long term fans very happy. Her in-between song banter was a little awkward but she was very gracious and sweet by continuously apologising to the crowd for postponing the show in October and they couldn’t have been more supportive. ‘Cages’, ‘Brooklyn Apartment’, ‘Didn’t Want To Get So Low But I Had To’ and ‘Grandma’s Hands’ became highlights in her live set. Whilst ‘Shiny Bright’ was a special little moment where she asked the crowd to turn on their phone lights and they did so accordingly and lit up the sold out venue.
She closed the show with “Never Be” before returning to the stage for a solo encore performance of “If You Want Me To Stay”. She then surprised the crowd with a performance of her Triple J Like A Version cover of Tame Imapla’s “Let It Happen” before closing the show for real with “Roll Up Your Sleeves”. Even though the show was sold out she still managed to hold onto the intimacy of a smaller venue. She had everyone’s undivided attention for the entire 80 minutes and that’s the way it should be. There were no distractions, it was just her and her band and her killer vocals.