Quite simply this was a night of sheer beauty and love. A night of celebration of song. It was really special. Waxahatchee (Katie Crutchfield) and Kevin Morby have been touring Australia together performing solo co headlining shows. They are exceptional songwriters, armed with an innate talent to tap into the human soul. Sunday night was the final night of the short tour, in the iconic Sydney Opera House. Katie went first, showing off her beautiful, soulful voice. She played some new ones and old ones, plus a couple off her recently released EP 'Great Thunder'. My favourite was 'You Left Me With An Ocean'. This was performed on a baby grand piano as were a couple of other tunes. The rest were performed on acoustic, with my favourite being 'Sparks Fly'. We also received a couple of covers, with the Lucinda Williams 'Fruits of My Labor' being especially wonderful.

Kevin Morby followed after a short break and ably showed yet again what a talent he is. His set was mostly on electric guitar, but he also plied the piano. He opened with what I believe is a new song in 'Hail Mary'. What a song it was. The rest of the set was a nice selection from his collection of four albums. All of it was great but I especially enjoyed 'Dorothy', my favourite song of 2016. 'Destroyer' was also superb, performed on the baby grand. As a special treat Kevin returned for his encore partnered by Katie. I'm sure everyone's hearts soared at this point. For good measure we received a Jason Molina song as well as a Bob Dylan cover. They then closed with the haunting 'Beautiful Strangers'.  What an ending to a very special night.

Set List
Hail Mary
I Hear You Calling (Bill Fay Cover) > Parade
Crybaby
Aboard My Train
All of My Life
Destroyer
Ferris Wheel
I Have Been to the Mountain
Harlem River > City Music
Cut Me Down
Dorothy

The Dark Don't Hide It (Jason Molina cover) (with Waxahatchee)
It Ain't Me Babe (Bob Dylan cover) (with Waxahatchee)
Beautiful Strangers (with Waxahatchee)

We ventured down to Berry on Saturday for the 4th edition of the Fairgrounds Festival. It started on Friday night but we decided to just make a day trip for Day Two. What a wonderful day we had. It's  a very relaxed festival with a nice friendly vibe, set on a grassy oval that is the Berry Showgrounds. There is plenty of room to relax and even if you are a fair way from the stage the sound travels really well. There are two stages for music. A large open air one and a smaller one that is set in an old cow shed. That's where we spent most of our day.

Total highlight of the day was Kevin Morby's mid afternoon set (see below), but there was plenty to enjoy through out the day. Waxahatchee's set was wonderful. Katie Crutchfield is such a great songwriter and has an amazing voice. Kevin Morby also joined her for a Jason Molina cover in 'The Dark Don't Hide It'. What a moment that was.

We also enjoyed a great set by the legend Billy Bragg. He played California Stars with Courtney Barnett. Lastly it was wonderful to see Wil Wagner perform a solo set. Australia’s poet laureate played 3 new songs that will be on the next Smith Street Band album. Plus a whole bunch of crowd favourites that had the whole crowd singing!

But Morby was the man. I have been very lucky to see Kevin in Europe and the US, both times with a full band. This time, his first in Australia, was solo. Mainly plying his electric, he wowed us and serenaded us with a nice cross section of his stellar catalogue. It was all great but probably the highlight was when Katie joined him for a rendition of the superb 'Beautiful Strangers'. But it got even better. I met him! Thanks to my wonderful wife who pushed me into meeting him after his set. He was so nice and engaging and he gave me his guitar pick. I floated on clouds for the rest of the day. What a day it was!

Set List
I Hear You Calling (Bill Fay Cover) > Parade
Crybaby
Aboard My Train
All of My Life
Harlem River > City Music
I Have Been to the Mountain
Cut Me Down
Dorothy
Beautiful Strangers (with Waxahatchee)