Xavier Rudd

A diverse range of punters filled the sold-out Metro theatre on a gentle Thursday evening. The crowd was generally a more mature looking crowd, yet there was an encouraging hint of young blood scattered around.

Dallas Frasca, accompanied by guitarist Jeff Curran, was an aptly entertaining support act for the night. The acoustic duo played sexy, sultry, and stomping slide-guitar tunes; powerful and raw - reminiscent of Janis Joplin. She left the stage leaving no doubt in any ones mind that she is a star on the rise.

Xavier Rudd took the stage alongside percussionist Dave Tolley and kicked off the set with an epic instrumental involving Didgeridoos and slide guitars, catching the crowd somewhat off guard.

Rudd switched back and forth between playing on his one-man-band setup to sitting on the centre of the stage with a single guitar several times during the night, playing a variety of songs from his 5 albums. Favourites included Conceal Me, Solace, Messages and Land Rights. Rudd was also joined onstage by an Aboriginal playing a didgeridoo, along with his children. Few punters even joined in the fun, jumping up onstage and grooving along, before ‘peacefully’ getting escorted away by security.

Surprisingly, there were a few disappointments, for myself as a first timer and even for many older fans in the crowd, as was overheard. Rudds set seemed liked it dragged on, due to the number of instrumentals and more slower-paced songs. There seemed to be a lot of people standing dead still for far too long at a live gig. Every time Rudd broke into one of the more popular songs, the crowd fired up, then would die again during the long instrumentals

We had left at 12.20am, 2 hours after he had taken the stage and he still had not finished. The set list lacked structure, which leads me to believe there was no set list.

Do not let this discourage you though, Rudd's skill and musicianship are a sight to behold, and will no doubt leave you with a feeling of peace and harmony.

Share this review on Facebook