DUSTIN TEBBUTT & LISA MITCHELL @ The Gov 01/07/17 (Live Review)

Dustin Tebbutt & Lisa Mitchell – “Distant Call Tour”

Two of Australia’s finest folk musicians, Lisa Mitchell and Dustin Tebbutt, teamed up at Adelaide’s The Gov on Saturday night for their final show on their national co-headline Distant Call tour. The unconventional collaboration follows both artists touring their respective albums across the globe, before teaming up for a unique performance with the support of local indie artist, Alex the Astronaut.

Alex The Astronaut – Photo by Dani Brown

Kicking off the evening was emerging indie artist, Alex the Astronaut, armed with only her acoustic guitar and delivered a bright and enthusiastic set. Music is just one of her many talents, with the Sydney artist recently graduating from a New York college, where she studied Maths and Physics on a soccer scholarship.

Although not everyone in the audience was paying much attention to what was happening on stage, those who were huddled by the stage were entranced by Alex the Astronaut’s smooth instrumentals and enthusiastic vocals. She played a combination of unreleased tracks and songs off her recent EP To Whom It May Concern, including massive tracks like Already Home and Rockstar City. Her vibrant, intimate performance delighted the early crowd, or at least those who were paying attention and set the scene for the rest of the evening.

Dustin Tebbutt – Photos by Dani Brown

After a brief break, Tebbutt appeared on stage, guitar in hand and jumped straight into Plans off his 2015 album, Home. Tebbutt’s performance was hauntingly beautiful, as he captivated the crowd with his emotive vocals and whimsical instrumentals. After playing a few more of his own songs, Mitchell joined him on stage halfway through Tebbutt’s song First Light. As the pair sung together, it became evident to the crowd how the night was going to go, with the pair taking it in turns to perform their own solo material, reworking covers of each other’s songs and performing together as a duet.

Mitchell then launched into her huge 2016 single, The Boys, for her first solo performance. Her distinct, melodic vocals had the crowd swooning, as she danced around the stage and sung into microphones covered in fairy lights. The evening was quite low-key, and it is understandable if some of the crowd’s attention waived if they had solely attended for either Tebbutt or Mitchell. However, it was quite frustrating as the night progressed that some of the crowd proceeded to talk over the music and the chatter carried across the room. I was not standing that far away from the stage, but there was absolutely no way to hear whatever Tebbutt or Mitchell was saying in between songs because of the chatter.

Lisa Mitchell – Photos by Dani Brown

Despite this, highlights from Mitchell’s performance included Neopolitan Dreams and Coin Laundry from her 2009 album, Wonder. It seemed that most of Mitchell’s tracks that resonated with the crowd were old favourites, with the crowd singing along to 2012 track, Spiritus. Tebbutt seemed much more reserved when he performed, with his emotive vocals at the forefront of his performance as he enchanted the crowd with The Breach and Bones. Saturday night also happened to be Tebbutt’s birthday and Mitchell got everyone in the room to sing happy birthday as she brought a cake on stage near the end of the set. The evening closed with a stunning rendition of Innerbloom by Rüfüs. The stripped-back cover had the crowd left begging for more but alas all we can do is hope that the pair may collaborate again in the future.