Brooke.

Saw my favourite local artist, finally…

I can remember when I first heard Brooke Fraser, I was driving a ute or a hilux or some monster farm car from Tocal ag college into Newcastle to deliver some files to the printer, and I turned up the radio when I got to the Newcastle West railway crossing cos they were playing her Distant Sun cover. I was in love, and then never heard of her again for over a year until Anna at MM had her song Arithmetic. And then I saw the Shadowfeet video on TV and loved it so I bought Albertine and I've been waiting to see her play ever since.

Her 3 albums are quite different. I like them all. Her lyrics are quite subtle so I can always hear something new or understand something different, which makes them last, because once I know the lyrics of a song I get bored of it. And her voice is pretty special, of course. She can sing anything and make it sound heartbreaking. She's a weird a quirky person, which makes it a much more fun show than if it was dominated by her saddish songs.

I was a bit nervous that she wouldn't be good live, and the first 2 songs had me worried because the sound mix was quite unhelpful. The drums and bass were so heavy you couldn't hear her sing. But the 3/4 of the show with thinner arrangements were awesome. Sailboats was the most beautiful, I thought. We were all disappointed she didn't sing Who are we fooling? but it was not a certain chance cos it is a duet with a guy. A good reason to try and see her again ASAP.