Live Review: Julia Stone

Julia Stone glided onto the stage at the intimately lit St Joseph's church with her three backup musicians - Roscoe Irwin of The Cat Empire, Edward Fairlie and Ben Edgar who recently returned from touring with Gotye - and slipped into her first song, the same way one might slip into a pint of Bollinger.

One of the most delightful things about Stone, other than the obvious glory of her lush voice, is her ability to remain so very sweet even when she's making rather unsavoury remarks. Her introduction to the song Wasted had her ramble a little about all the things being in love can remind you of being wasted on. “It could be anything” she mused, “it could be wine or… crystal meth.” It was at this point that a collective sigh of relief goes up from those of us whose skin usually sizzles upon entering a place of worship. With a giggle and a shrug Stone grooved her way through the song, doing the proverbial dance as if a church-full of people weren't watching. We are treated to an impromptu rendition of an unrecorded song, Black Jacket, with Stone sitting at the piano and taking a few moments to remember the chords before undertaking the sweetly humorous and personal little ditty, a cover of David Bowie's Modern Love, as well as a cover of You're The One That I Want so good that it momentarily made me forget how much I hate Grease.

Stone puts every part of herself into her performance. She sings with her whole body, feeling every note, oozing delicious charm like molasses. This was particularly noticeable during intense songs like Horse With The Wings. Her voice cracked with anger and feeling at the most emotionally heightened part of the song, which, I'm not ashamed to say, drew a few tears from my jaded little eye. Stone shared the stage with her support act, Vance Joy, for Santa Monica Dream, their chemistry undeniable as they face each other during the solo. You could almost feel the energy between their two guitars: It's like the light sabre fight between Obi Wan and Darth Vader in Episode IV with all the sparks and none of the animosity.

Julia Stone put on one hell of a performance, the heavenly tone of her voice being complimented to perfection by the cavernous space of the church. She may have earned herself a few new fans that night. In my case, she was preaching to the converted.