FELIVAND Live at Woolly Mammoth 19/8/22
Written by Robert Hume
Following the release of her highly anticipated debut album ‘Ties’, Meanjin/Brisbane-based singer-songwriter FELIVAND has the road on a national tour starting in her home city of Brisbane last Friday night at the Wooly Mammoth.
When walking into the venue just as the first act was starting, you could have easily thought that the night would be a pretty intimate one. Hannah Sands was up first and the audience was loving her. Hannah’s unique neo-soul sound reverberated through the Wooly Mammoth’s Mane Stage. It had a raw vibe and saw the audience swaying along.
However, the standout moments from her performance were the very supportive friends and family who had shown up to support, who cheered all throughout the set. It was very cute and while Hannah isn’t a stranger to performing, it was clear that supporting FELIVAND was special to her as part of her journey as a musician.
After the stage went dark, it was not too long before it was lit up again and this time in colourful lights, hinting at what was about to come. In keeping with our dreamy lineup, Monet’s Pond and her band sauntered up and took over the stage. The sweet, sugary vocals and dreamy melody that. Monet’s Pond only have two songs up online and while writing this I’m wishing there was more I could put on and escape back into the trance I found myself in when listening live. I’m looking forward to hearing more music from Monet, however we may have to wait a little while as the band will be going on a little hiatus to work on vocal health.
The lights that were shining the room in colours went down and we were left in total darkness, flashlights were up on stage while packdown between sets before the house lights dimmed back on showcasing the crowd that had increased to fill almost the whole floor. FELIVAND was on next and the energy in the room was electric and was contagiously spreading throughout the room. The room was refilling drinks and punters were moving up to the front to secure the best position to catch the headline.
The lights dim back down before lighting up the stage once more for the final set of the night. FELIVAND is standing with her band and they are covered in purple and orange hues. They are excited to play and not one person in the audience felt otherwise and when you’re selling out the venue on the first show of the tour it’s hard not to be. She thanked the crowd for coming and jumped straight into the first song. ‘Butterfly Wings’ saw people moving and grooving in the crowded space, sharing the moment together.
FELIVAND’s voice melted through the building. Standing towards the back it was hard not to notice the sound engineer vibing while working to keep the vocals smooth and balanced with the baseline from the drums and guitars. Between songs she smiled and mentioned how hearing her song sung back at her rocked her right to the core. The last song played was ‘Where were you,’ a crowd favourite and most popular from the album. It saw the continuation of singing with the audience and kept the audience moving.
Painting the picture of how passionate the audience’s participation was it’s easy to imagine the reaction to the lights fading at the end of the last song. Cries for the encore were charged and after a couple seconds of silence from the stage the band FELIVAND and her band delivered with ‘Ebb & Flow,’ a song that I was wondering if it would appear. It was more raw and had a lower tempo compared to all other songs in the set. It was the perfect anthem to end the night and saw the audience swaying back and forth while singing along.
Having only just begun, the tour is still rolling across the country. You can catch it next in Sydney at Mary’s Underground on the 27th of August and then in Melbourne at the Northcote Social Club on the 2nd of September.
