Live Review: Vera Blue at Hamer Hall 19/03/221

Supported by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

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Tonight’s concert is a very special event that is a celebration which honours women in music. It commences with an introduction by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) to celebrate female composers. They perform four pieces by Deborah Cheetham AO, Anna Clyne, Ella Macens, Missy Mazzoli and Holly Harrison. Each short work captures our attention and takes us on a different journey. We follow them down the rabbit hole for an epic instrumental that’s inspired by Alice In Wonderland. They continue to explore the feeling of restless oceans and create a soundscape for us to imagine we are looking up at the night’s sky to feel the space between the stars. It’s a truly magical experience.

Vera Blue (aka Celia Pavey) then joins the MSO on the Hamer Hall stage. She starts the evening off with two brand new unreleased songs, including one that shares the title of tonight’s special event ‘Everything Is Wonderful.’ Pavey tells us she’d never performed with an orchestra prior to this concert series but she’s excited to share some of her favourite works reimagined, in a way that we’ve never heard them before. She sheds a new light on her songs and we discover a whole new love for them as they are performed in completely different arrangements from the originals. Both Pavey and the audience are blown away by the live orchestra which even includes a harp.

Pavey reveals she started playing the violin from the age of four and so tonight she picks up the instrument and joins the MSO to play along to her song ‘Fantasy’. A French horn solo from the MSO is also incorporated into the ending to create an almost unrecognisable arrangement that’s truly one of a kind. Pavey’s vocal delivery is extraordinary, she effortlessly moves in and out of high falsetto runs to quiet and controlled moments.

Showcasing some of Vera Blue’s biggest hits from the debut album ‘Perennial’ and the ‘Fingertips’ EP, we get to see different sides of Pavey’s personality during the spectacular cinematic experience. We’re also treated to some more new material that she’s been working on including one called ‘The Curse’ about unrequited love and falling for best friend.

Nobody wants the show to come to an end but thankfully we’re gifted an encore of perhaps the most exciting track to be reimagined with an orchestra – her collaboration with Flume ‘Rushing Back’. The arrangement is stunning and a performance fans will never forget.

Words by Michael Prebeg