Guy Sebastian belts out revitalised old hits and new tunes with perfection. He hits every note and is utterly polished. His talent is astounding and he will get all the more interesting as he branches out into new styles.
Guy Sebastian’s new album dropped on Friday (3 November), and those turning up to his Brisbane show were the first to see, touch and, it is assumed, buy his new tunes. Sony had reportedly dropped off a special advance-delivery of the album especially for concertgoers, and even Guy hadn't seen it yet. His fans were very, very excited to get their hands on his new material.
Sebastian is an amazing performer. He hits every note perfectly and his voice, and his range, absolutely blow you away. It is a testament not only to his undeniable talent, but also to his down-to-earth, nice guy personality, that the audience was filled with every type of person possible. Little kids, rock dudes, uni students on date night, and 70-year-olds who knew every single word of every single song.
It’s a slick show, with basic but effective choreography, lighting and visuals – although his black and white pants, teamed with heavy gold chain and black fedora were extremely distracting. Guy’s patter between songs was intimate but still polished, and the videos projected onto the back of the stage were a nice touch and provided a window into his creative process and charity work. There was a lot of emphasis placed on these visuals though and, while nice, they could have been a bit more ambitious.
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Guy performed a few of his back catalogue, re-worked to update them or give them an edge with wonderful results. His cover of 'Keeping Score' by LDRU was a crowd favourite, as was 'Battle Scars', which Sebastian played as his encore. His new material, such as 'Vesuvius' is very radio-friendly, but not particularly inspired. There seems to be a lot of American RnB influence in the styling and language of some of the tracks, which is unfortunate for a singer who really has the talent to carve out a niche for himself, rather than producing more of the same music we get from American stars all the time.
Others such as 'Sober' are very intimate, and not quite as polished lyrically, which works in their favour – they feel more real. Sebastian has talked in interviews of not necessarily harnessing the “cool factor”, especially in reference to blow back on him being included in the triple j Hottest 100. His new songs are very mainstream and still might not be “cool”, but they are very well done. While it would be really interesting to see what Sebastian could do if he broke out of this more mainstream mould, his new songs will keep current fans happy and hopefully this is the music he enjoys too.
Matt Gresham was supporting and was also an absolute standout. A very different style to Sebastian, Gresham almost evokes David Gray as he sings heart wrenching, forlorn ballads about lost love. He is unpolished in the very best way, raw and clearly caught up in his own music, feeling every note. His turn in the spotlight was very impressive, and highly appreciated by the Brisbane crowd.
Guy Sebastian's album 'Conscious' is out now.
Guy Sebastian Tour Dates
Sat 4 Nov – Newcastle Civic Theatre (Newcastle)Mon 6 Nov – Palais Theatre (Melbourne)
Fri 10 Nov - Thebarton Theatre (Adelaide)
Sat 11 Nov – Astor Theatre (Perth)
