This sold out show was a celebration of our home town heroine Sia, returning for her first national tour with a full backing band from her new found home in New York. It was always expected to sell out given Sia’s army of family, friends, school mates and probably old bandmates from her first band Crisp, whom I saw playing acid-jazz in the 90s. All around the country she had played to full houses of people who are in on the secret of her astounding talents. To her credit, her powerful soulful voice and enchantingly quirky nature cannot be kept hidden for much longer. Some will remember her soulful appearance on Friendly’s club hit Some Kind Of Love Song, or her first major single in Australia Drink To Get Drunk earlier in the decade. For others it was her time leading London lounge kings Zero 7 where her voice perfectly suited their electro pop indulgences.

The Gov was packed early with many cramming up the front to get a good position for the main act, where we got to hear the grimy indie pop sounds of local support Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! These guys have steadily built up quite a résumé of shows lately with regular appearances around town leading to a spot at the Fringe opening night concert. With interstate gigs and major festival spots on the horizon 2009 looks more than promising. Their melodic tunes with Caitlin on lead vocals, remind a little of Operator Please vocalist Amandah in a purposefully out-of-tune but cool kind of way. War Coward is instantly recognisable with its distinctive lead guitar lick and is deserving of its solid radio airplay. F!SR,F! always have a great energy and enthusiasm about them which never fails to win over new fans at each performance.

Sia and band came on stage to rapturous applause wearing crazy fluorescent costumes and masks made to outline stick-figure faces and hands, reminiscent of the artwork on Sia’s latest album Some People Have Real Problems. UV lighting created a surreal on-stage glow highlighting Sia’s stark white gloved-hands dancing along to hit single Buttons, getting serious playtime on YouTube at the moment. The costumes were stripped off to reveal Sia and her five-piece band of bass, guitar, keyboards, drums and an instrument I’m always excited to see at any gig, the cello. The next few songs were achingly gorgeous examples of Sia’s ability as a singer songwriter, particularly You Have Been Loved and Sunday, a welcome inclusion from her mesmerising second album Colour The Small One.

Louella, a 10 year old girl, sung with her on the beautiful Little Black Sandals before being whisked off to bed only just before the set’s end. The Pretenders cover I Go To Sleep was absolutely brilliant especially the cello arrangement. At least two thirds of her stunning new album was performed, mostly mellow arrangements with amazing emotional depth and beauty that had the entire room tingling in awe. Of the few upbeat moments, we heard Playground and Girl You Lost to Cocaine, an anti-drug tribute. Songs showing off her voice superbly came towards the end of the set like Soon We’ll Be Found with Sia performing sign language as seen on the unique video clip and Lentil, a jazzy melodic song about love and loss.

Glimpses into Sia’s past came in the form of a couple of her well-known Zero 7 tracks, Distractions and Destiny with everyone swaying and swooned blissfully in trip-hop heaven. Between songs Sia’s banter was chirpy and relaxed even though she claimed to be nervous performing in front of family and friends after all these years. She congratulated the crowd on being the fastest ticket-buying city (a nice change!), explaining that her mum and friends had to fend off old ‘buddies’ from out of the blue pleading for tickets. Sia is an unconventional character, inciting heckling and welcoming letters from fans before and during her shows. She read out a letter from a woman in the crowd offering a post-shown Thai massage which she accepted gleefully.

As Electric Bird ended the set, Sia danced in her eccentric way and continued off stage to prepare for the highly anticipated encore. The hometown crowd broke into rapturous applause with cries of “I love you *Sia*” from all corners of the room. Completing one of the events of the year was her haunting track Breathe Me. Everyone was under her spell. I wished the show could be extended and more of her back catalogue could be heard. It’s no wonder artists like Beck and Christina Aguilera are lining up to work with this breathtaking singer. I knew her live show would be worth the wait and she did not disappoint!