Live Review: José González – Sydney Opera House (06.02.16)

In the country to tour his third studio record Vestiges and Claws, which was released a year ago this month, Sweden’s José González made his Sydney Opera House debut last night, accompanied by a four piece band.

José, who is no stranger to our shores either in solo or Junip mode (the project that preceded and runs alongside his solo career), didn’t have to work hard to win over the crowd – jumping right into a solo and acoustic rendition of one of his best known tracks “Crosses”, before delivering a set which leaned heavily on his latest record, throwing in a few old favourites – including two Junip tracks – for good measure. The rest of the set was devoted to covers, something the artist is as known for as his own music. If not more so.

The main set ended with the cover that kicked off his solo career in many ways – The Knife‘s “Heartbeats” – while tracks from Kylie Minogue, Arthur Russell and Massive Attack (his oft covered, perfect rendition of “Teardrop”) were also thrown in, the majority bundled together at the end of the main set. The highlight of that group, however, was the unexpected inclusion of a Barbarossa song from the London artist’s lead singer, James Mathé, who is a touring member of José’s band. They played the song “Home”, which featured José on the original recording, a keys driven, stunning track which broke up the evening nicely. Not overly familiar with James’ work, I’ll definitely be looking into it more now.

Other highlights of the night included “Every Age”, the Junip track “Walking Lightly”, which saw the backing members adding to the vocals in beautiful harmony, and “Leaf Off/The Cave”, which finally got the crowd clapping along. Though you can understand their desire to sit and listen to the music in detail, a few earlier attempts to get the crowd to join in proved a lost cause.

Banter was kept to a minimum, but José and his band sounded beautiful in the Opera House, keeping the songs stripped back enough that they worked perfectly in the space (we’ve all seen the muddled mess a loud rock band can become). The music focused on two acoustic guitars, percussion, synth/keys/effects and José’s voice. The approach did pull away from some of the more impactful tracks – like the incredible Junip song “Line of Fire”, which José performed solo to kick off the encore. The version, shorter than the original, didn’t quite have the same oomph without production. Though their slightly longer take on “Down The Line”, which closed the night, more than made up for it, as we all fell into the darkness of the night.

Overall, the show was a beautiful one, if not an overly impactful one. But that’s exactly what fans know to expect – and given the multiple standing ovations, one can assume they weren’t disappointed.

José González returns to the Opera House for one more show tonight at 5pm. Limited tickets remain.

SET LIST

Crosses
What Will
Deadweight on Velveteen
Hand on Your Heart (Kylie Minogue cover)
Every Age
Walking Lightly (Junip song)
The Forest
Let It Carry You
Leaf Off / The Cave
Killing for Love
Home (Barbarossa cover)
This Is How We Walk on the Moon (Arthur Russell cover)
Teardrop (Massive Attack cover)
Heartbeats (The Knife cover)

Encore:

Line of Fire (Junip song)
With the Ink of a Ghost
Down the Line

Photo Credit: Prudence Upton / Sydney Opera House

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Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.