Live Review: Bernard Fanning, Stella Donnelly

Thursday night found a huge crowd lining up for the main band room, keen to catch Bernard Fanning's second of four sold-out shows at the Rosemount Hotel.

The room had pretty much filled as local singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly took to the stage and delivered a set that showed the audience, in no uncertain terms, why there is so much local hype around her debut solo release, EP Thrush Metal. A gifted writer with a commanding voice, Donnelly held the crowd transfixed, many of who would not have been exposed to her material previously. Her all too brief set that was highlighted by Mechanical Bull, which has been nominated for Best Single in this year's WAMAwards.

As Salliana Campbell's haunting violin washed over the crowded room, Bernard Fanning made his way onto the stage accompanied by his band The Black Fins. Starting with Shed My Skin and How Many Times?, both from his latest album Brutal Dawn, Fanning then moved on to Songbird which, judging by the number of punters happily singing along, was an obvious early favourite with the jam-packed crowd.

Reckless from the companion album to his latest release, 2016's Civil Dusk, was followed by Tell Me How It Ends, which saw Fanning move from acoustic to electric guitar. He then gave a nod to the recently departed Tom Petty with cracking version of You Wreck Me, which proved to be another hit with the crowd. Obviously at ease with the crowd, Fanning introduced Letter From A Distant Shore saying that it had gone down well in Adelaide and joking, "Adelaide is awesome. It'll be great when it's finished," much to the delight of the Perth crowd.

At this point, the impressive Black Fins departed the stage leaving Fanning alone at the keyboard to deliver a cut back version of the Powderfinger hit Already Gone. The band were straight back on stage for Yesterday's Gone, from his massively successful debut solo album Tea & Sympathy, before guitarist Andrew Morris took over vocal duties for a great cover of Joe Cocker's The Letter.

Announcing that they were doing the evening's encore early, Fanning and his band launched into his mega-hit Wish You Well, much to the delight of the crowd who once again were all singing along. They followed up with a version of Which Way Home? that at one point morphed into Black Sabbath's War Pigs and finished with Sleeping Rough before thanking the audience and making their way from the stage to loud applause.

His unmistakable voice seems to be almost ingrained in a generation of Australian's psyches after so many years of performing and recording with Powderfinger and as a solo artist. Matched with his ability to write material that is new but at the same time strangely familiar, it was no surprise that Fanning effortlessly held the audience's attention throughout the entire performance and left them buzzing as they made their way out of the venue.