Related Notes:
Lana del Rey was frustrating. It took well over an hour for her to get very good. Before that her voice was inconsistent - beautiful note one moment, flat the next. She sang most songs against prerecordings of her own voice on backing vocals which didn't work well because the recordings sounded much better. She still had backup singers - why did she need both? She forgot a lot of words though most she covered up fine, but she was also lazy with most songs and just didn't sing every part. Sometimes she would mumble-sing. Adding to all that the fact that she would pause to take selfies with fans, and that she sang some of her worst lyrical offenders, it was hard to get much out of the show. Some of the blame should fall with the Sidney Myer Music Bowl's sound quality but only so much. Towards the end she finally warmed up enough that she sounded very good on Shades of Cool and Summertime Sadness. I also liked her medley of Change / Black Beauty / Young and Beautiful. Maybe if she had spent a while actually rehearsing for the show it could have been much better.
I was very excited about the Sia concert and it was good but so strange and kind of unsettling. I expected there to be focus on Maddie and the dancers while Sia stood to the back, but I wasn't expecting to see pre-recorded video of celebs (Tig Notado, Paul Dano, Kristen Wiig, Gaby Hoffmann, Ben Mendehlson) who weren't really there... A live camera focusing on the actual dancers and on Sia in person would have felt more real. It was especially jarring when the video showed Sia singing and the audio didn't quite match what she was up to. I also expected her to have something to say to the audience but after she spent most of the show just aligning to the video it was easy to question whether she was even really there herself! Anyone could stand under that wig to pre-recorded Sia vocals. But that would be ridiculous... She did acknowledge the audience near the end of the show, after her last "I am titanium" she added an "I am Australian" which the audience loved. When she did say thank you after that she was hard to hear which again was weird. Her singing was great but I wish it felt a little more like a live concert.
Adele! 75,000 people at her first Melbourne show and we were seated at the very back! It was a wonderful show though, she sang all the numbers we would have wanted and so well. The display was a good mix of closeup live recording and other music videos. Her banter was loveable and down-to-earth. She showed Melbourne a great night. Best concert for this goal so far.
Amanda Palmer at the Gasometer Hotel. It was an intimate venue, she started sitting on the balcony before going onto the stage and did a few songs with Brendan Maclean but most solo. The rooftop was up for a cool breeze too. My favourites were Gaga Palmer Madonna, Vegemite (The Black Death) and The Astronaut.
I've now seen Peaches - she was very confronting and her show was kind of like her movie, Peaches Does Herself. It was interesting but not the best gig I've been to. Before the encore she and her backup dancers started selling t-shirts to anyone in the crowd, and it was taking ages so we left.
And Anastacia - her voice was great, so powerful - unfortunately the sound mixing wasn't great though, and the music was too loud. She did great rock covers and her famous pop songs and ballads. It was quite enjoyable. I was surprised at how much valley speak there was!
Bands I haven't seen but want to:
1. No Doubt
2. Spice Girls
3. Portishead
4. Sia
5. Zemfira
6. Lana del Rey
7. Adele
8. Amanda Palmer
I've been fortunate enough to see most of my favourites live. Finally seeing Garbage after being a fan for 11 years was a highlight and a previous goal.
Bands I haven't seen but want to:
1. No Doubt
2. Spice Girls
3. Portishead
4. Anastacia
5. Sia
6. Zemfira
7. Lana del Rey
8. Adele
9. Amanda Palmer
10. Peaches
