Live Review: Alex The Astronaut, Stella Donnelly

Stella Donnelly, performing just with her guitar and voice, announced she would be playing a cover of No Room For Doubt to get over nerves.

Her voice soared over the crowd with a delicate vibrato warming up with every extended vowel; by the end of the song, those nerves were unperceivable. Unlike the lyrics of Mean To Me "...and you tell me my jokes ain't that funny", one of Donnelly's greatest assets on stage is her sense of humour.

Donnelly has had a great year with her first EP, Thrush Metal, being picked up by triple j. She spoke candidly about the EP cover, a photo of her eating noodles and a title to match, they were a joke intended for the few family members and the "two friends" that would buy it.

With a personality that fills a room two times over and big songs like Mechanical Bull and Boys Will Be Boys, it was clear why she's collecting so many fans along the way.

Donnelly would be a tough act to follow for anyone, but Alex The Astronaut brought her own charisma to the stage.

With songs like Rockstar City having an immediate singalong appeal, the crowd was invited to add claps and coordinated backing vocals during the set.

She spoke her mind on a variety of topics, from her time in the US with Swedish exchange students watching reality TV, oblivious to the people crying in corridors for the election of Donald Trump to meeting Paul Kelly for dinner and forgetting the words to a song in front of her idol.

Sometimes her lyrics come off as one long stream of words after the other, which is probably part of the appeal of her style. Highlights were Not Worth Hiding, which Alex The Astronaut dedicated to everyone who feels different, and a duet with Donnelly, Young Folks.