"... The crowd are instantly singing at the top of their lungs with her."
Sydney outfit I Know Leopard act as the perfect intro for tonight's headliner, performing a polished set and making us all want to learn violin ASAP. The band plays their well-known tunes like Let Go and Rather Be Lonely and everyone is happy.
Montaigne kicks off her final show of her current tour with the epic What You Mean To Me and the crowd are instantly singing at the top of their lungs with her.
Numerous times throughout the set, we are reminded of just how powerful Montaigne's pipes are. She absolutely nails A Cinematic Plea For An End and Consolation Prize. It's hard not to get chills on the latter when a voice so strong sings, "I am alive and here after all/I am alive/That's my consolation prize".
The singer treats us to a few new songs and even gives us a piano performance, though she notes she's not very good (we beg to differ), and there's a moment of laughter from us all on one of those new tunes regarding a line about a pancake. Montaigne likes to "waffle" - her word - during her shows but we love her self-deprecation and honesty. Clearly the singer does not take herself too seriously.
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Earlier in the day, Montaigne tweeted that she had swollen lymph nodes under her arms and she wasn't sure how she was going to move tonight. She moves just fine - Montaigne dances like no one is watching but she's also fully aware of every movement she makes - it's all part of the performance. The singer ends up changing into "active wear" - her words again - and explains the lymph nodes situation to us. After the sarcastic joy that Because I Love You brings, Montaigne gets even more comfortable with us - stripping off to her underwear during In The Dark - and things get a little weird and wonderful.
The standard encore plays out, much to the crowd's delight. Montaigne is clearly super loved by her hometown and she thanks everyone again before belting out I'm A Fantastic Wreck and finishing with Till It Kills Me.