Live Review: Vance Joy & Lily Moore - O2 Academy Brixton, London 07/03/2018
Vance Joy brought an earnest display of traditional indie-pop to Brixton’s O2 Academy this Wednesday. The fact that this was the biggest London crowd that he has ever played didn’t seem to phase the 30 year old artist.
Lily Moore began the evening, filling the venue with her powerful love ballads, despite her stage presence consisting only of herself, a guitar and a pianist. The 19 year old has come fresh from busking in Brighton to supporting Vance Joy on his European tour this March and what a great opener she is. “This wasn’t isn’t a sad one, I promise” she says as she introduces her track ‘I Know I Wanna Be With You’. Despite her songs being chilled and mellow for the most part, they were catchy and uplifting and the crowd seemed to be warmed up ready for the headline act.
A dramatic instrumental entrance track made it seem like a huge rockstar was about to take to the stage, and from the crowd’s reaction, Vance Joy may as well have been. The Aussie singer-songwriter was backed by a full band, but seemed to stand alone under a spotlight at the front of the stage. He didn’t allow the size of the venue to swallow him up, however; his belting voice vibrated through the room and up to the balcony.
Full of smiles and excited to share his new material, Joy captivated the audience instantly and the crowds were singing back to him with love in their voices, giving the performance an intimate feel. He kept the crowd moving with a mixture of tracks from his new release and his 2014 debut as he switched between guitars and a ukulele.
And for those of you wondering if Vance Joy is still relevant after his hit single, ‘Riptide’, there is a sold-out crowd that will tell you he is.
Vance Joy’s sophomore album, ‘Nation of Two, is out now and his European tour continues with dates in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam over the next few days. He will be back in the UK in November to play a date at London's Alexandra Palace.
Words by Max Herridge