Katie Noonan has proven herself to be an able songstress over the past decade. Voted as one of Australia’s top 20 singers of all time by iconic peers such as Kate Ceberano and Michael Paynter last week, it is her versatility that puts her at the pinnacle of the countries music scene. Being equal parts pop, to vocalize jazz, the Elixir and George star promised to pull out all stops with a night of hits focused around the new album Songbook.
Katie has always proclaimed her love for intimate shows, and stepping out through the wooden facade that dominates The Abbey stage was no different as she asked to keep the atmosphere as ‘relaxed as we can’.
It wasn’t until turning in my seat I realised this request wasn’t as easy to manage for the audience, and relaxed proved harder to achieve than ‘intimate’.
In the minutes before Katie took to the stage a flood of well-timed fans were left peering round already crammed tables for spare seats before retiring shoulder to shoulder at the corners of the stage.
Nevertheless, to the applause of the strong crowd Katie promised a more alternate show than one purely focused on her new record, and starting the with the first Songbook track was the melodic Quiet day, an ode to the artists creative hideaway in Arthur Boyd’s old cottage outside of Canberra.
Katie varied the pace with the heartfelt Emperors Box, Special ones, and Blue Bird (Co-written with Sia), before lifting to howling Country and Western duets and Nick Drake renditions with strumming support artist Bryan Campeau.
The night breezed through without a hitch and the intimate stage of the Abbey matched seamlessly with the comfortable conversations between Katie and the audience.
Katie Noonan is a must see for any skeptics of the homegrown music scene and has rightly earned her place ranked amongst the best solo artists Australia has produced.
The Songbook tour continues at:
Saturday April 27th
Songbook
Flinders Performance Centre, Buderim
Thursday May 2nd
Songbook
Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Friday May 3rd
Songbook
Lizottes, Dee Why
Saturday May 4th
Songbook
Lizottes, Central Coast
Sunday May 5th
Songbook
Lizottes, Newcastle
