Live Review: Asgeir, Gordi

"I've been writing music for a long time, but Asgeir's album In The Silence really changed the way I make music," says singer-songwriter Gordi and we can tell that she's thrilled to support her idol tonight. Gordi starts off at the keyboard and gradually makes her way to an acoustic guitar as she mixes up her set, alternating between new and old material. "I've got a record coming out in August called Reservoir and this is a new track called Bitter End," she tells us. This emotionally charged song includes some raw, muffled vocal effects to really emphasise the melancholic tone.

"I played at a festival in Barcelona and found out that Gordi actually means 'fat baby' in Spanish," she shares and we all have a chuckle. She then carries on with another new song that came out a month ago titled Heaven I Know. But before beginning, Gordi shares a quote from a review that she read at the time of this song's release: "The song begins with a low hushed whisper of a man. It wasn't a man!" She laughs. Gordi records a live loop of herself counting to three in a quiet whisper and adds a vocal effect to make her naturally low voice even lower. In this moment of quiet an audience member shrieks, which messes up the recording so she repeats this section until it is perfect. The captivating multi-layered track grows with such a powerful intensity that it makes us gasp for air.

Surrounded by a lighting formation that calls to mind blue icicles, Asgeir begins with Hold - a song he sings in his native Icelandic language. Although we don't understand a word he sings, we are instantly captivated by his beautiful vocals and radiating presence. Asgeir continues with Fennir Yfir and Underneath It from his latest album Afterglow. "I arrived after flying from Iceland only two days ago and I'm feeling a bit under the weather, but we'll try to get through this together," he says. He soldiers on with his triple j Like A Version cover of Milky Chance's Stolen Dance (from 2014) and takes the song in a different direction with a calming mid-tempo take on the original. We hardly notice his performance waver.

For those up the front of the moshpit who catch a glimpse of the setlist, it's apparent that Asgeir skips over a few songs including the title track of his new album. Then, without warning, he utters, "This is my last song then I'm going to have to call it a day." Fittingly, Asgeir concludes with Going Home since he apparently can no longer perform for us and cuts the show short, much to our dismay. He comes from the freezing cold temperatures of Iceland, but Asgeir claims that the Australian winter really got to him. We're then left hoping for an encore that never comes.