Live Review: Camille O'Sullivan

Located on a stationary boat, The Palais was a picturesque location for Camille O’Sullivan and her band, whose Adelaide Festival show, Cave, was a tribute to three decades of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. As influential and fervid as Nick Cave’s art is, O’Sullivan and her band were quite the charming opposite, sneaking onto the stage seemingly unnoticed until they begun playing. Opening with God Is In The House, O'Sullivan's unique and stunning Irish croon convulsed or soothed as each song required.

The authenticity of Still In Love enraptured the venue, Jubilee Street was an adventure of loud versus quiet, impossible to look away from, while (Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For? entranced the crowd. 

Into My Arms was the gorgeous ballad that charmed all present, O'Sullivan performing the song sitting down. There She Goes My Beautiful World incited a more animalistic presence from O'Sullivan, who threw off her shoes and stomped around the stage, before Red Right Hand, which included a violent beating of the keyboards.

Stagger Lee brought about a Quentin Tarantino aura, as did the eerie Sad Waters. The Ship Song closed out the set, O'Sullivan and the rest of her band finishing the track side-by-side a cappella as the audience sang along – it was striking and exquisite.

The band returned for an encore including Skeleton Tree, Girl In Amber and Distant Sky, which were simply otherworldly and rather theatrical. However, to truly finish, O'Sullivan jumped off stage and walked around the room hugging as many audience members as she could in a true show of appreciation. This was truly a memorable experience.