Following the tragic events at Manchester Arena in May of this year, music venues around the world have wisely tightened up their security, and Margaret Court Arena is no different. With many punters being held up in lines, the arena was only half-full, with many people sitting on the floor, before Mansionair kicked off proceedings.
Opening with the heart-wrenching Speak Easy, the Sydney-based three-piece took the audience through a mix of slow jams and more upbeat ones. After showcasing a few tracks from their upcoming debut album including the soulful Heirloom, Mansioanir closed with their soon-to-be-released single Astronaut, which had similar vibes to Disclosure and Daft Punk.
Clearly ones for building anticipation, the house lights were down for a good couple of minutes before London Grammar graced the stage. With a single, red spotlight shining down on vocalist Hannah Reid, she began an a capella version of Rooting for You before keys came in and light surrounded the whole band. Given Reid’s haunting vocals, it was a breathtakingly beautiful way to begin the set.
The impeccably shot images of nature that were projected onto the screen behind the London-based trio further enhanced the emotion conveyed in their performance, while the seamless transition from Flickers into a reworked version of Help Me Lose My Mind showcased Dominic “Dot” Major’s talent as a multi-instrumentalist, moving swiftly from keys to drums.
Stay Awake kicked the pace up a notch with the crowd moving from sways to head bops, before Major did “officially the most rock‘n’roll thing we’ve done” and broke a drumstick during Hell to the Liars.
Endlessly grateful for Australia’s support, the set was littered with anecdotes such as guitarist Dan Rothman remarking at how Melbourne feels like home given its similarities with London, and Reid saying “Australia means so much to us because you’re kind of the reason we have any career, really.”
As the set went on, it became clearer that Reid wasn’t performing at her best. She later explained that this was because she was having slight vocal problems; restricting her ability to hit the incredibly high notes she is known for. Given Reid’s vocal issues, she invited the crowd to singalong with her, with audience participation reaching its peak during Hey Now, the song she says they’ll never write one as good as again, and Strong.
Although leaving the stage after Big Picture, Reid said they’d come back for more if the audience cheered for it.
Come back they did, but not before the LED screen behind the stage was lit up with a rainbow flag, with cheers from the audience filling the arena. This simple, yet effective message of support for marriage equality intensified the feeling of love already in the room, as London Grammar launched into Oh Woman Oh Man.
With a mass singalong to the chorus, and a video behind them contrasting the beauty of nature with the destruction of man, Metal & Dust was a triumphant end to a night of emotion.
Highlight: London Grammar continuing the tradition of musicians expressing their support for marriage equality when performing at Margaret Court Arena #loveislove
Lowlight: A group of hat-wearing bros pushing in front of me just as London Grammar were starting and spending the whole set taking photos and videos of the stage and themselves
Crowd favourite: Hannah Reid pointing the microphone at the crowd during Strong to capture the arena-wide singalong (and give her poor vocal chords a rest).
