GIG | Tash Sultana @ Metro Theatre 01/04/2017
There’s a distinct pleasure to be had watching a musician have as good a time as any member of the audience. At a Tash Sultana show, the person having the most fun in the room is Tash Sultana.
As head spinning as it is to watch the blur of instruments flying in and out of her grasp as she creates intricate, layered pieces of music before the crowd’s eyes, the key to Tash’s success is the pure passion and joy she brings to her craft.
Sydney’s Metro Theatre enjoyed a stellar performance on Saturday night, from Tash herself and her supporting acts, Reuben Stone and Ocean Alley.
Up first was Reuben Stone, who like Tash herself is known for his eclectic live shows, using a multitude of instruments and looping to flesh out his indie-dub stylings. His track ‘Trouble’ was received with gusto from the audience, who were already dancing and primed to party.
Later, during her own set, Tash would declare Sydney’s own Ocean Alley to be her “favourite band ever” and stated it was she who should be opening for them; she preferred to think of it as “their show”.
While the Ocean Alley boys played, it indeed was easy to forget they weren’t the top billed act. Their unique brand of psych-reggae is infectious, with dreamy guitar and keys melding perfectly with frontman Baden Donegals vocals. Triple J faves ‘Holiday’ and ‘Yellow Mellow’ were eaten up by the crowd whose excitement for the main event continued to grow.
Soon enough, Tash took to the stage to a wild chorus of screams, clapping and declarations of love from her eager fans. After taking a moment to lap it up, grinning, Tash swung into action. Opening with an ethereal instrumental, she whipped around, building a huge sound that it seemed impossible for her to have created on her own.
Tash’s meteoric rise has to be credited, in some part, to the magnetic quality of her live shows. Her songs are good enough to listen to at home, but watching her bring them to life is something else. It’s easy to become mesmerized watching her work, whether it be on a guitar, synthesizer or mandolin.
And this is all without having mentioned her phenomenal skills as a vocalist. She displayed her incredible vocal power during ‘Synergy’, darting between two microphones, creating beautiful echoes.
Alternating between tracks from her EP, ‘Notion’, and new as of yet unreleased tracks, Tash kept the audience captivated even as songs reached the ten minute mark. Whether it was ‘Gemini’ with its angelic vocal hook and haunting trumpet or the wistful love song ‘Notion’, Tash brought a new element to each track, making each of them entire unique and independent of one another without losing that signature otherworldly folk sound she’s perfected.
The performance only continued to escalate after Tash stated that Pauline Hanson could “fuck off”, resulting in ecstatic cheering from the crowd, which carried over into the next song in which Tash began to beatbox with panpipes, which is probably the coolest thing a musician has done in that venue, or perhaps any Sydney venue to date.
As the show began to wind down, Tash teased the crowd, announcing she wouldn’t be playing her Hottest 100 top #3 breakout hit, 'Jungle', because she was “fucking sick of it”. Fair enough, Tash.
Luckily for the audience, it was April Fool’s Day, and soon enough she began to blast out the familiar riff, layering in the percussion, her own voice drowned out by the audience as they sang the lyrics back.
Tash Sultana’s raw talent and passion for what she does, combined with her unique and fresh take on song writing and delivery secured her place in the Triple J zeitgeist and will continue to take her far and cement her status in the landscape of the Aussie music scene. If her completely sold out tour dates both within the country and internationally are anything to go off, we can only look forward to what Tash has in store.
If you weren’t lucky enough to snag tickets to her remaining tour dates, you can catch Tash at Groovin’ The Moo, Triple J’s One Night Stand, or at Ivy’s Courtyard Live.
Jodi Lewis
