Live Review: Jessica Mauboy – 19th November 2013 – Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia
2 min read
Australia’s sweetheart Jessica Mauboy wowed the loving crowd at her Brisbane concert last night. She made mention that Brisbane is like a second home to her, her brother residing there, and you could tell she was feeling sentimental, giving the crowd all she had – only stopping to thank all her supporters and fans.
Mauboy has been in the biz for 8 years now, since her first appearance on Australian Idol at 16, and now at 24 years of age, she has grown to be a music professional with a lot to give. Her voice was faultless, her style was refined and choreographed and her banter and communication with the audience was sweet, funny and classy.
Although her voice was what drove the show, there was a definite underlying focus on her Australian heritage, and in particular her proud Darwin home town. She spoke to us in a full-fledged Darwin accent, describing experiences as ‘deadly’ and recalling funny stories of how her Nanna reacted to her costumes before she went on stage.
When I say her voice drove the show, I mean just that. There was no back up dances and although a lot of her music is dance or R&B focused she used a four-piece band with only two back-up singers to accompany her.
The show started with her golden oldies like Burn, Been Waiting and Because – from her album Been Waiting released in 2008. Then she gave us some sexy R&B songs from her second album Get ‘Em Girls from 2010, including the title track and Saturday Night. She was joined by support act Nathaniel Willemse for her duet with Stan Walker What Happened to Us – which showed how green Willemse was at performing, especially next to a star like Mauboy, but his voice is also phenomenal.
The next part was really special. Mauboy did a string of songs form The Sapphires, her 2010 hit movie, which apparently is still travelling around the world and is a massive success for Mauboy. The classic soul pieces were fun and powerful, rocking the crowd and causing a stir.
Mauboy finished off her set with some big name electro tracks of hers including Inescapable and a couple of songs from her latest album Beautiful including To the End of the Earth and Pop a Bottle (Fill Me Up).
These tracks whipped the crowd into even more of a frenzy, and what started with a couple of 10-year-olds running down to dance in front of the stage, was a pied-piper type scenario where kids from all over the centre swarmed to the front and formed a sort of family friendly mosh pit. It was heart-whelming to watch Mauboy hand the microphone over to the kids, bending down and singing into the tiny faces of her tiny fans while they grabbed her hair and clothes. She smiled and encouraged them, which only solidified in my mind what a beautiful young lady Mauboy is.
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