Sarah Blasko performs with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at the Adelaide Festival Centre. Picture: Regi Verghese Source: Supplied
- MUSIC
Sarah Blasko with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Adelaide Festival Centre, February 1.
THE ukulele, its recent rise in popularity notwithstanding, is associated rarely with moments of exquisite beauty; nor is it heard much in the company of a symphony orchestra.
Such a sublime few minutes came two-thirds of the way into this opening night of Sarah Blasko's tour. David Hunt, one of the Sydney singer's four band members, plucked a simple uke motif, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra's lush strings swept underneath it and Blasko, dressed in black, poured out a vocal so emotionally wrought the Festival Centre ushers were handing out tissues by the end.
Well, perhaps not, but that song, Here, one of the highlights from Blasko's fourth album I Awake, was the emotional high point of her 90-minute set.
This tour is designed to show off I Awake, recorded with the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra last year, in its entirety, while allowing Blasko to perform earlier material, mostly from 2009's As Day Follows Night, in an orchestral setting for the first time.
It is often said that pop and rock stars add symphony orchestras to their live performance in an attempt to give their music a bit more cred. Strings and woodwinds are classy, right?
Well, yes they can be - and in the right musical setting an orchestra such as the ASO (Blasko is using a different orchestra in each state) can bring unimagined grandeur to the simplest of pop constructions.
If you already have a band, the trick is to marry its already established arrangements and idiosyncrasies to the more rigid ensemble of strings, woodwinds and horns following the score.
On their own, Blasko's regular collaborators Hunt (mostly on piano), multi-instrumentalist Ben Fletcher, bassist David Symes and Swedish drummer Fredrik Rundqvist bring a wonderfully understated dynamic to Blasko's songs. With an orchestra (literally) behind them, they found this easy understanding and simpatico with the woman in front of them undermined occasionally.
Indeed in the early part of the set, which featured, among others, As Day Follows Night's All I Want, No Turning Back and Sleeper Awake, there was a sense - not least from Blasko - that the separate parties were a few semiquavers short of a magical union.
It might have been better to launch into I Awake from the beginning. The opening title track, written by Blasko, Rundqvist and Symes, is a frenetic, percussive rumble that locked in singer, band and orchestra and appeared to put everyone at ease. The flow and cohesion of the show improved distinctly from then on.
Blasko's stage presence is less flamboyant than it was on her last Australian tour, but she has lost none of her power to hold an audience, most of which comes from her incredible voice.
On I Awake's God-Fearing her mix of menace and fragility sat perfectly with Rundqvist's percussive drive and the grandeur of the ASO, while the first encore, An Oyster, A Pearl, with Blasko solo at the piano, allowed her delicate vocal to soar.
There was a celebratory air to the last song, the album's closing track Not Yet, in which the ASO, Blasko and the band indulged in a gloriously almost psychedelic wig-out, a cacophony of sound and rock 'n' roll posturing that brought the evening to a dramatic close.
One left having enjoyed the grandeur, but with the feeling that Blasko's voice would sit well with any accompaniment, not least the ukulele.
Wrest Point Casino, Hobart, tonight; Brisbane February 9; Melbourne February 14; Sydney February 17; Perth, February 23. Tickets: $72 to $102. Bookings: 132 849 or online.
MUSIC
Sarah Blasko with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Adelaide Festival Centre, February 1.
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