Songs That Made Me Brisbane Review @ QPAC

Though it can be easy to forget that English isn’t universal, there are thousands of languages and dialects around the world.

But though language can be a barrier to communication, music has always had a way of bypassing that confusion to bring different communities together.

Perhaps we can’t always understand the words being sung, but the musicality and underlying emotions? Those are universal.

This idea was hammered home rather spectacularly through ‘Songs That Made Me’, the final salvo of the dynamic Women Of The World Festival staged at QPAC in Brisbane (8 April).

‘Songs That Made Me’ isn’t just a musical conversation around inspirations, but also a tribute to the Commonwealth’s abundance of talented female musicians.

Hosts of the evening – Deborah Conway and Clare Bowditch (click here to read our recent interview with Clare) – kept the laughter loud, with the sort of teasing chemistry that’d do wonders on a Netflix series (and how much would that soundtrack rock?).

But all chemistry aside, the highlight of their hosting was the sheer glee they had to welcome other musicians to the stage.

‘Songs That Made Me’ is as much a concert as a gathering of kindred spirits, holding each other up and genuinely thrilled to see each other flourishing. The beauty lies in the simplicity. All the pomp and ceremony has been stripped away, leaving a stage filled with incredibly talented women clearly enjoying the chance to work together.

There were hugs, activism, personal stories and the sort of warmth that comes from actually liking the people you’re working with.

There’s something beautiful in realising you’re not just watching a concert, but a community and in watching talented women talking openly about the artists that inspired them. Clearly, those inspirations resonated strongly with the audience, judging by the sheer volume of gleeful noises as each song was revealed.

Though our hostesses might have the more familiar hits to their names, and Deborah’s cover of ‘Case Of You’ left audiences reeling, it was The Verandah ChiX who stole the show. Watching this powerhouse Brisbane-based vocal ensemble singing ‘Imer’, a song about letting the rain wash away the pains of the world, brought the night staggeringly close to a spiritual experience.

Canadian songstress ShoShona Kish (click here to read our recent Q&A with ShoShona) brought the house down with a staggering rendition of ‘Feeling Good’ that I’m pretty sure left audiences breathless.

Fiji’s Laisa Vulakoro, known as the Queen of Vude, brought the boppy tunes to keep the crowd chair-dancing, and I’m not sure I’ll ever see so many people serenading each other with ‘Blame It On The Bossa Nova’ again in my lifetime.

Emily Wurramara, so softly spoken you could see people leaning forwards in their chairs, has all the soul and sound of a golden-age diva, with the sort of lyrics that sooth the heart and soul.

Hannah Macklin, frankly, broke my heart singing ‘The Stars’, a song that I cannot find a trace of online, but need. Her heart-shattering cover of ‘Feed The Birds’ from 'Mary Poppins' made quite a few people in the audience weepy.


On their own, each woman is a powerful voice. But bring them together for a performance of The Pretenders ‘Hymn To Her’ and magic is made. Honestly, if there’s not an album release of this concert I will be deeply disappointed.

There’s something powerful about a performance made up entirely of women, and the honesty and openness such a setting creates. It gives space for a vulnerability we don’t often get to see, nor discuss.

And if we’re all very, very lucky, this won’t be the last time this premise takes to the stage.