30 April 2024 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Beth Orton has returned to Australian shores (or ‘parts’ as she said) and the Tivoli after her scheduled gigs from last year were re-scheduled to April. This gig was the last performance of her “Weather Alive” tour across Australia and New Zealand.
I last saw Beth Orton perform in Canberra in 2017 when she came south after playing Vivid in Sydney. She was playing songs from her then most recent album Kidsticks. And, at that time her voice and musical style was changing. In 2024, she has changed even more. The voice that launched the Brit-pop adjacent ‘folktronic’ sound is not the same. However, it is important to realise that the vocal aspect of Orton’s work is not the most important feature of her music.
The thing about watching a Beth Orton musical display is her love of the ensemble performance experience with the focus on melodies and arrangements carefully crafted and delivered by her and her team of musicians. Her musicians on this tour were James Gilligan (bass and violin), Jesse Chandler (synth, sax, flute, oboe, piano and backing vocal duties) and Ben Sloan drummer, percussionist, piano). These multi-instrumentalists were outstanding and delivered the vision in the stripped back versions of the songs but giving them a full sound – and the voice is just one instrument amongst many.
Orton started the set with tracks from her critically acclaimed album Weather Alive released in 2022: the title track, ‘Friday Night’ and ‘Fractals’. Orton was behind her keyboard, her voice more ragged sounding, but just another part of the soundscape being created by her amazing band. She then came to the standing microphone with her guitar and played some older tracks from the Sugaring Season, Daybreaker, Central Reservation and Trailer Park: ‘Paris Train’, ‘Mystery’, ‘Central Reservation’, ‘Pass In Time’ and ‘She Cries Your Name’.
The tracks from Weather Alive are more like her original songs and she made famous in the late 1990s and it was so obvious when listening to the fabulous ‘Lonely’ and ‘Haunted Satellite’. The encore delivered the tracks the audience really wanted to here: the ‘Sweetest Decline’ and ‘Stolen Car’.
Listening to Orton and experiencing her live music now is not the same as listening to the sweet comedown queen of those must-have 90s albums. In 2024, listening to her is to hear a wiser, older, cracked chanteuse-like voice with songs that she has re-arranged and stepped down. Her performance was also more low-key and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves. Orton even said to a questioning audience member: “Well! I am having fun. I am not sure what you are doing.” Maybe it was that end of tour relief and looking forward to her holiday in Byron Bay but the vibe in the Tivoli was happy and content. I think Orton was genuinely surprised by the love from the crowd.
Beth Orton and her band put on a subtle and skilled musical experience that was at times hypnotising and vulnerable. It was wonderful.
