Weyes Blood infuses the Opera House for Vivid
Image: Weyes Blood performs in The Joan Sutherland Theatre. Credit: Jordan Munns
Natalie Mering is a west coast American singer, who in a few short years has become a fan favourite with her particular musical style. She performs under the moniker, Weyes Blood, inspired by the Flannery O’Connor novel, Wise Blood.
Known for her exceptional vocal clarity and extraordinary range, Mering has a reputation for producing music of great beauty that is multi-layered in its interpretation and is often referred to as baroque pop.
It wasn’t always the case.
Mering grew up in a fundamentalist Christian household and rebelled at school by performing in Portland, Oregon thrash bands Jackie-O-Motherfucker and Satanized.
Somewhere between the rebellion and nascent maturity she changed labels and direction with her third album, 2016’s Front Row Seat to Earth, which quickly gained critical acclaim.
In 2019 this album was followed by Titanic Rising, which cemented her reputation and saw her build on her acclaim in the music press while gaining a strong live following around the world.
She last performed in Sydney in 2020, playing the Factory Theatre.
Thursday night, a packed Joan Sutherland Theatre at Sydney’s Opera House welcomed the singer and her band with rapturous applause before even a note was played.
From the very first, the audience knew that they were experiencing an exceptional performer who was comfortable with her prowess on stage.
Her band, consisting of keyboards/guitar, bass/keyboards, keyboards and drums, provided exemplary accompaniment playing in simpatico with her delivery, which kept the chat a minimum while maintaining engagement with the audience.
The show was largely drawn from Titanic Rising and her latest work, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, which may have disappointed some, but “Grapevine”, “Children of the Empire” , “God Turned Me Into a Flower” and other more familiar songs soon put the older and possibly more familiar material into the rear vision mirror.
Titanic Rising’s “Andromeda” was what many were waiting for and the singer and her band did not disappoint.
The Joan used to have a bad reputation for amplified acoustics but since its upgrade it is now one of the finest music rooms in Sydney and the mix for this show proved just how fine that is.
Candelabras set across the stage provided atmosphere to the simple and effective lighting, while video projections added to the mood, particularly during “God Turned Me Into a Flower”.
It all ended at an economic 90 minutes to a standing ovation with Weyes Blood and the band returning to another ovation.
This show was part of Vivid’s exceptional 2023 music lineup and will do much to lift Weyes Blood onto another level.
Second show: June 4
Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point
www.sydneyoperahouse.com
