Live Review: Tash Sultana, Pierce Brothers

Kicking off a six-date homecoming tour, Tash Sultana played to her biggest Adeladian audience so far. Judging by the dizzying talent she displayed on Saturday night, it won't stay her biggest for long.

With just a few Australian dates left, this one-woman orchestra will soon be off the tour grid and completing her debut studio LP and when she returns, we suspect the venues will need to be even bigger.

Supporting the headliner were Pierce Brothers: a multi-instrumental duo from Melbourne whose frenzied, high powered drum-kicking, guitar-slapping and head-banging style whipped the audience into a foot-stomping mania. In addition to being skilled, this agitated folk duo knows how to get their audience to let go, as evidenced by their choreographed mass-participation 'crouch-then-JUMP-UP-AND-DOWN-GO-MAD' closing song.

With the crowd's energy satisfactorily elevated, Tash Sultana walked on to the stage grinning and studying the excited crowd before approaching a tiered riser, donning a guitar.

Within the first few chords, Sultana's presence and talent exploded into the room. Casually licking out Jimi Hendrix-inspired riffs, she wasted no time in showcasing not just how many instruments she can play (probably all of them), but how well she plays. When played, the instruments seemed less like objects than permanent extensions of her.

Besides the guitar, trumpet, mandolin, pan flute, drums, keys, loopers and mixing table, arguably Sultana's most impressive instrument is her voice. Ebbing and flowing between influences including reggae, soul, Middle Eastern and beatboxing, she paints emotional pictures with whatever sonic style she feels best compels her emotional state. Her repertoire is uninhibited by a strict style or genre.

The entire show was significant for its connectedness to the music and to the audience. An extended 20-minute long rendition of Notion induced tears in at least a few audience members who, like the rest of the crowd, had surrendered willingly to the authenticity and rawness of Sultana's performance.

A song that she played mid-set and for the first time in Australia, was complemented with a backdrop of moving stars and galaxies as she sang with vulnerability and sensitivity. It seems as though she is incapable of singing without sharing every exposed nerve.

After accepting a furiously enthusiastic applause for the above, she transitioned freely into the perkier and well-known territories of Jungle, It was a crowd favourite that saw the audience singing along as one oversized choir, which Sultana conducted from the stage. Considering the emotional rollercoaster that was her two-hour set, this was a welcome high note to end on.

Tash Sultana's energy and outstanding technical skillfully captivated Saturday's audience; it was nothing short of hypnotic. Overall, a heartfelt performance that will not soon be forgotten, introducing us to perhaps only the iceberg tip of what Sultana seems capable.