Angus and Julia Stone at The Enmore Theatre

Sydney’s Angus and Julia Stone played two sold-out homecoming shows at the Enmore Theatre this week. I was at the second of them:














It doesn’t seem long ago that I was watching Angus and Julia Stone playing a free gig at The Rocks or a show at The Vanguard to a couple of hundred people. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago, about 17 months in fact. So it was quite remarkable to hear a cacophony of fervent screams from over 2,000 people as they stepped onto the stage at the Enmore Theatre. Such a reception illustrated just how quickly their star has ascended in their home country, especially considering that they have spent a large chunk of the last couple of years in the UK.

It really shouldn’t be a surprise how popular the siblings have become though (we’d already had a hint at the love Sydney felt for them at last year’s Great Escape Festival). After all, what’s not to like about them? They are both genuinely lovely, humble people who write honest, emotive, catchy-as-hell tunes and deliver them beautifully.















This Enmore show proved that their arrival on the big stage is no accident either, as their new songs proved to be increasingly confident in their arrangements while remaining charming. Julia’s vocal driven For You was a highlight, as was a new Angus ditty, Suzy (or maybe Susie, or Suzie) which pointed in the direction of reggae just slightly. As usual, many of their acoustic numbers were backed by bass and drums, while they also utilised harmonica, trumpet, keys, clarinet and the harp-playing skills of Victor Valdes to embellish their sound.

While their new tracks were well-received, as were older songs Private Lawns (which saw Julia almost rapping at one point) and Mango Tree, it was offerings from their album A Book Like This which went down best. Just a Boy closed the set triumphantly while encore The Beast ended the night to rapturous applause. Quieter moments saw a veil of silence fall over the theatre and, at one stage, as half of the crowd keenly tried to clap along, the other half shushed them.

Above all, this mermerising night suggested that, rather than this being the pinnacle of their musical adventure, Angus and Julia Stone are set to go on to even bigger and better things.

....Here is a clip of Just a Boy. Please excuse the slightly poor sound quality, it was recorded on my digital camera, but you get the idea of the crowd’s adulation, especially at the end: