It’s been a while since we’ve had the opportunity to see a future star play on the verge of their global breakthrough. And in the case of Mimi Webb, Australia received the chance to see her intimately in small theatres ahead of her eventual mammoth domination.
The British singer-songwriter has had a wild 12 months with her TikTok breakthrough success and her impressive streaming numbers flowing in. Her voice is powerful, and her presence on social media is commanding, and all of that translated across when she took to the stage for her debut Australian shows and wowed audiences with her raw talent.
Walking onstage to a voicemail of her saying “just calling to say we should break-up”, the tone of the evening was immediately set. It was a show about heartbreak, but it was also about finding the power within your emotions and deciding to put yourself first throughout it all. Opening with with ’24/5’ and ‘Little Bit Louder’, the first thing that became apparent was how in-sync and strong her band were. The arrangements for every song were impressive to say the least, and had this very theatrical tone to them which elevated them to another level.
“This one is for anyone who’s had their heartbroken by an absolute idiot” she confessed before performing ‘I’ll Break my heart again’, and it was little candid anecdotes like these that provided a refreshing light and shade with the emotional themes. ‘Reasons’, ‘Halfway’, and the soon-to-be-released ‘Ghost Of You’ followed, before the anthemic ‘Dumb Love’ which felt like it should’ve been the closing track.
Not many people could successfully cover Adele, and not only did Mimi perform ‘Someone Like You’, she also did it effortlessly. It was so impressive to witness, and I don’t think anyone there didn’t have goosebumps while she was performing it. After that cover, the 45 minute set was in its home-stretch with ‘Goodbye’, ‘House On Fire’, ‘Before I Go’ and ‘Good Without’ wrapping it all up. It was hit after hit, and then it was all done. She graciously thanked the crowd and ran off stage, and you were left standing there wanting more, but for the best reasons as she was undeniably amazing.
The brief show was a taste of the superstar she is going to become. The talent is already there. And the show is already impressive. So as she comes into her debut album era, her growth is going to be exciting to witness.
And talking about superstars on the rise, opening act Sam Fischer almost stole the show for himself with an incredible set filled with raw talent and amazing songwriting. Opening with ‘Hopeless Romantic’ he exploded onto the stage with so much confidence and charm that immediately had the crowd smiling and on-side with him. His banter in-between songs was hilariously silly, with him introducing ‘What Other People Say’ as his “ARIA losing song”. A stripped-back cover of ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ was very special, while a sneak-peak performance of his forthcoming single ‘Carry It Well’ proved he had more brilliance in the pipeline. As he closed out the set with ‘This City’, he proclaimed “this song my changed my life, but it’s all because of you fuckers”, and he was right. That song become a beacon of light for so many people during lockdown, and the singalong that occurred during that song was very special.