LIVE REVIEW: Jessica Mauboy – QPAC

Jessica Mauboy is here to remind you that she is THE Boss Lady. The Australian pop royalty’s career has spanned 16 years, with dozens of hits that have continually been stuck in your head and hearts respectively. After opening a new chapter with her recent signing to Warner Music Australia and the release of the bold ‘Glow’, she has stepped out onto the road for her most memorable tour yer.

The Boss Lady Tour is a theatrical and celebratory affair that certifies she has found her inner-strength as she reclaims who she is as an artist. Walking into the packed QPAC in Brisbane, the crowd were given light-up bracelets that were later going to make them apart of the production. With the lights dimming, the band took to the stage for the opening chords of ‘Blessing’ before a spotlight was shone onto a screen to reveal a silhouette of Mauboy and her two back-up singers. With the screen rising to reveal her in an oversized red jacket, she looked fierce and launched into the hits ‘Burn’, ‘Been Waiting’, ‘Beautiful’, ‘To The End Of The Earth’, and ‘Sunday’. “Brisbane I’m so excited to finally be back here” she exclaimed while welcoming everyone to the show. She went onto explaining how over the past 2 years she has been spending a lot of time by herself writing and figuring out where she wanted to go next as an artist, so she treated the crowd with a preview of the empowering ‘Aphrodite’, and the confident new single ‘Automatic’ which will be released in May, as well as the recently released anthem ‘Glow’.

With the stage being reset with some chairs placed at the front, Mauboy and her backing vocalists re-appeared for the sultry choreographed portion of the show which allowed recent ‘Hilda’ tracks ‘Never Ever’, ‘Selfish’ and the completely underrated ‘Jealous’ have their own special moment. It was a reminder that she has grown up in front of our eyes since she was 16 on Australian Idol, and now she is a confident woman who isn’t afraid to embrace her sexuality.

After a quick costume change she returned for the intimate storytelling part of the show. Beginning with the stunning ‘Butterfly’ she then got her band to come sit at the front of the stage for acoustic renditions of ‘Let Me Be’, ‘The Day Before I Met You’, ‘Never Be The Same’ and ‘Gotcha’. In-between songs she was cracking jokes, and candidly telling stories from the road and her childhood with her discovering that someone from her primary school was in the audience and re-connecting over memories of their music teacher.

With her band returning to the back of the stage, the beautiful ballads ‘Fallin’ and ‘Little Things’ wrapped up the intimate section of the show before she put on an oversized black jacket and it was time to get sassy again. ‘Up/Down’, ‘Pop A Bottle (Fill Me Up)’, ‘This Ain’t Love’, ‘Saturday Night’, ‘Inescapable’ and ‘We Got Love’ closed out the show with high energy that encouraged the crowd to get up and dance with her.

Jessica Mauboy is a powerhouse performer. She always has been, but The Boss Lady Tour sees her re-finding herself as an artist and honing together this tight 2 hour show that celebrates her career to-date. Her band has never been tighter with arrangements of her greatest hits that feel punchy, while her vocals are powerful and given special moments throughout the show to be spotlighted. This was undoubtedly her best tour yet, and was a show that opens up a new chapter for her as she steps forward with new stories to be told.

Check out the full gallery captured by Zac Montgomery BELOW;