5 March 2023 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words by Gabrielle Ross – pictures by Nicole Matthews
Lines filed through Fortitude Valley on the balmy Sunday evening as punters of all ages eagerly awaited for the doors of the Fortitude Music Hall to open and for AURORA’s show to begin. With a sold out show the evening was right on track for something truly special.
The opening act for the evening was Blusher, the three piece band from Naarm/Melbourne brought a fun and sparkly energy to the packed Fortitude Music Hall. Starting their set with their newest single ‘Deadend’, the trio, Miranda, Lauren and Jade, brought choreographed movement and dance, synchronized perfectly to their juicy bass lines and synthetic beats.
An energetic start to the evening Blushers whole set felt like one big, beautiful and chaotic evening out on the dance floor! Perfectly showcasing their individual talents, Blushers synth-pop sound, stunning melodies and ethereal harmonic vocals had punters enthralled and dancing. For their first ever tour, Blusher is a force to be reckoned with and has truly made their mark with their unique and sparkly indie-pop sound!
The stage was bathed in a mysterious red glow as the haunting vocals of ‘The Forbidden Fruits of Eden’ echoed across the soundscape, a sun-like spot of light highlighted the petite yet powerful form of AURORA as she began her incredible set.
Throwing her hands into the air, AURORA started to sing ‘Heathens’ her vocals strong against the deafening cheers of her audience before flowing into her next song, ‘Blood in the Wine’, this was a high energy start to the evening with epic music, thundering vocals and endless energy from AURORA as she danced and swayed to her music.
The atmosphere shifted as the audience was bathed in a beautiful blue light, with just herself and her guitarist, AURORA started to softly sing ‘Infections of a Different Kind’ before moving into the more light hearted ‘The River’. Delightfully sweet, charming and hilarious, AURORA playfully waved to her audience, especially those situated in the high mezzanine to her left and right and she continued to talk to her fans throughout the duration of her set. Speaking as though to a dear friend, AURORA ignited a loving and wholesome warmth throughout The Fortitude Music Hall that evening and even reminded everyone, from a tangent about eating Tim Tams, that ‘from shit flowers grow’.
‘All is Soft’, ‘Daydreamer’ and ‘A Potion for Love’ lead punters through the valley of softer, deeper and melodic songs of her AURORA’s set before she flexed her vocal talents with ‘Exist for Love’. The music allowed AURORA’s voice to be the star, naturally, and to float hauntingly and beautifully into every corner of the venue.
The energy of the evening slowly built into a crescendo, lifting as AURORA began the haunting vocals for one of her most well known songs ‘Runaway’. A beautiful chorus of voices filled The Fortitude Music Hall as the entire audience sang along with every lyric.
Following with ‘Churchyard’ and then the powerful ‘The Seed’ AURORA danced wildly on her stage, stomping her feet and bouncing around, before dancing into her final song for the evening, ‘Queendom’. A strong finisher for her set, with an epic breakdown of flashing lights, thundering music, high energy dancing and a stand-alone heroic finish!
AURORA ran around gleefully on stage to lovingly collect the beautiful gifts and treasures left by fans. AURORA and her band made their way off stage to electric applause and her audience’s energy only grew and grew, as they stomped and chanted for her encore.
Returning to the stage AURORA and her band launched into the poppy and fun ‘Cure for Me’, with AURORA flashing her iconic dance, punters bounced, danced and sang along! The warmth of the love and good vibes that filled The Fortitude Music Hall that evening swelled, as AURORA sang and danced to ‘Giving In To The Love’ before her beautiful finisher ‘A Little Place Called The Moon’.
