Gig Wrap: Julia Holter at The Tivoli (22/01/19)
- Jack Jones
- Feb 6, 2019
- 3 min read
On Tuesday the 22nd of January, the Tivoli was decked out with a table and chair arrangement that was reminiscent of an ABBA revival concert at your local watering hole. Alas, it was not an ABBA revival concert, but the final Australian stop on Los Angeles singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, Julia Holter’s Aviary Tour.
Perhaps it was the excessively low temperatures being provided by the air conditioners, but from the start of Keeskea’s opening set until the end of Julia Holter’s performance over two hours later, there was seldom a moment in which our exposed body hair wasn’t bristling. Keeskea is the dreamy alternative folk project of local musician Vanessa Marousopoulos who, that night, was joined on stage by Olivia Bolin and Aimee Van Der Kruik for an impressive opening set. While their nervous chatter between songs indicated an endearing level of uncertainty, the chemistry of the performers displayed maturity and depth beyond their years.
The house DJ kept the momentum rolling in the break between sets with a collection of several classic funk pieces including Isaac Hayes’ ‘Walk On By’ and Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Pusherman’.
Julia Holter entered the stage alone, opening with a stunning solo performance of ‘In Gardden’s Muteness’, showcasing her startling vocal range. She was then joined by her ensemble, which closely resembled the band that worked with her to create the 2018 epic double album which they were touring, Aviary. They launched into tracks from the album, and it immediately became clear how strong a venue choice The Tivoli was for this tour, with the acoustics doing justice to the maximalist and powerful compositions. The infectious ‘Les Jeux to You’ was an early highlight – perhaps one of the songs that really gives context to what Holter means when she says that she tries to put sound before language in her music.
After a few tracks, she paused to explain that she would be playing tracks from her previous two albums; not unwelcomed news, given her consistently strong discography to date. In fact, it’s a testament to the quality of her last two records that there was enough material within to mean her earlier material did not make an appearance, despite her having a wonderful back catalogue. Silhouettes, Feel You, and crowd favourite Sea Calls Me Home, in which violin and trumpet surprisingly very capably replaced the song’s standard saxophone solo, off 2015’s Have You in My Wildnerness, all made appearances throughout the set.
One of the high points of Aviary, ‘Words I Heard’ received a spellbinding live performance and was another standout, as violinist Dina Maccabee and the power of Holter’s vocals, once again caused chills. The climax of the standard set fittingly came from I Shall Love 2 and its breathtaking concluding crescendo, after which Holter charmingly seemed to forget that she was meant to leave the stage and await her inevitable encore.
After the brief delay, she returned to make light of the concept of an encore, before launching into a delightfully awkward freestyle about her time in Australia. The show was then closed out by an extended version of Have You in My Wilderness’ ‘Betsy on the Roof’, after which people departed, quite vocally full of praise for the mesmerising performance they had just witnessed. Over the course of her last few albums, Holter has gone from strength to strength, and it is pleasing to report that if this evening at The Tivoli was anything to go by, her intoxicating live performances affirm her status in the upper-echelon of this decade’s pop musicians.
Written by Jack Jones and James Chadwick
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