Mazzy Star-Live-Sydney Opera House-A Vivid Event…In Dim Light
Sydney Opera House 11-6-2018
Mazzy Star
Sydney Opera House 11-6-2018
A Vivid Event
The end of the long weekend and Mazzy Star kick off their trio of shows at the Opera House on a cool but clear evening in the brightly lit city. Inside the Opera House Concert Hall, well there were very few bright lights, except for the exceptionally shiny magic displayed by the band while playing.
Hope Sandoval has a lovely vocal timbre to fall into and fade away within. With some stellar pedal steel by Josh Yenne and David Roback’s dreamy reverb deep guitar work, Mazzy Star can lull you into their world. Accompanied by a backdrop of black-and-white art and films and very low-key lighting (dim really!), Sandoval’s voice blended well with the excellent line-up. Besides the aforementioned men on strings, Suki Ewers on keyboards and founding member of My Bloody Valentine, Colm O Closoig on percussion were faultless.
The band let the music do the talking and they entered into very little audience interaction throughout the night. I believe the first thing Sandoval said was, “Hello…What a day”, before easing into the next number. The audience was a bit vocal about their inability to see Sandoval and band during the first three songs, but they settled down with the somnolent tunes as the night went on. Her shyness and reticent of her and Roback to talk much about the music or themselves (live or in the press) is a reputation that has preceded them.
Sandoval’s harmonica playing and the song ‘Flowers In December’ was reminiscent of Neil Young and the music is spiced with laid-back country and blues. ‘California’ and ‘Fade Into You’ were excellent as was most of the set. Although it had been 5 years since the band had played live, the only slight distraction was the teleprompter used by Sandoval.
A number of audience members could not make it through the set after a 3-day weekend as the music did act like a joyful Valium for some. This resulted in some empty seats before the end of the show or some people who were dead to the world. As the person sitting next to me said, “I love to listen to their music before I go to sleep”.
