Live Review: Didirri, Batts

Tanya Batt (aka Batts) plays a solo show tonight with only the accompaniment of her beloved guitar, which she tells us, is named Thomas Charlie Oliver.

Batt holds nothing back as she begins her set with some very emotional songs loaded with powerful soaring vocals. "Sorry, I'm smashing you in the face with all the heavy ass songs but they are all like that," she jokes. She tries to bring back the word 'nor' by including it in one of her newer songs she calls Not Your Lover Nor My Friend. Just as she begins the first verse of the heart-wrenching number, she stops suddenly to tell the people backstage to shut up. The room remains dead quiet and still for the rest of the set.

In between songs, Batt shares some quirky facts about space, and her personal life. "So, I became a parent this week. Not to a child, but a gecko named Ringo," she reveals. Her natural comedic banter keeps the audience laughing as she tunes her guitar and then gets serious again for her next song. Batt released a new song last week called Shame and tonight she plays it acoustic for us, although it's still probably the fastest tune she has to get the audience swaying along. One audience member nearby even picks up the pace of her knitting needles.

Didirri starts out by singing a big list of insecurities for us. The first one is about being yourself. "I have an insecurity about cutting my hair and the fear of hairdressers," he jokes, as he flicks his long brown hair out of his face. Didirri is a very charismatic storyteller and his voice is magnificently rich. His band joins him for the next few songs and the lead guitarist shows off an impressive raging guitar solo to excite the crowd.

Didirri's very personal style of songwriting makes the show feel very intimate as he delivers each note with perfect restraint and a delicate build up. Through his emotive folk songs, he shares thoughtful experiences including one about a letter to his ex-girlfriend. "The letter is now on a tea towel for sale at the back of the room," he says. "If you buy one, then you've gotta send me a picture of whatever stain you clean up," he adds jokingly, before sharing the captivating track Blind You. After recounting a strange interaction with his Greek neighbour this morning, he asks us to put our arms around someone for a song about death. He then cheers us up a bit with a new song about making strong a connection and a singalong catches on pretty quickly, considering it's the first time many of us are hearing it.

"Music is for moving people or making people move," Didirri says. He does both of these things exceptionally well tonight with a flawlessly executed performance that showcases his remarkable talent. He moves to a keyboard side of stage for a song about artistry (a cover of Vincent by Don McLean). He tells us Formaldehyde is also about a painter (Frida Carlo) and conveys true strength with an explosive finish backed by is full band, including a trumpet. "Once you've found the thing that makes you happy, share it with people," he says, before one last song that he notes is about not being squashed by anyone or anything. We applaud him and depart feeling very grateful to him for sharing his incredible gift with us.