Review: Macy Gray @ Hindley Street Music Hall
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of her debut album, On How Life Is, Macy Gray took fans on a journey through her storied career, proving she’s one of the most unique and entertaining vocalists going around.
Words by Tobias Handke
Image via @MacyGray (Facebook)
American soul singer Macy Gray’s return to Australia coincided with the 25th anniversary of her seminal debut album, On How Life Is. In town to perform the record in full, the near-capacity crowd packed into Hindley Street Music Hall was buzzing with anticipation for the singer-songwriter’s arrival.
There wasn’t a spare seat in the venue, with the balcony also chockers with predominantly middle-aged concertgoers knocking back froths and jiving along to the R&B tunes blasting out of the speakers.
Arriving fashionably late, the crowd didn’t seem to care, serenading the R&B songstress with applause as she sauntered on stage and kicked things off with the one-two-three combo of ‘Why Didn’t You Call Me’, ‘Do Something’ and ‘Caligula’, the first three tracks from On How Life Is.
Taking time out to say hello to the crowd, Gray made sure to introduce her band early, highlighting the talented four-piece that consisted of a keyboardist, a bassist and two drummers. “Now it’s time for you to introduce yourself,” Gray told the crowd, getting everyone to yell their name on the count of three.
Gray continued performing songs from On How Life Is, although not in chronological order. The funky ‘Sex-o-matic Venus Freak’ and jazz-inspired ‘ I Can’t Wait To Meetchu’ both went down well, but the biggest cheer came when Gray performed the top ten charting hit ‘Still’.
Having performed all but two songs from her debut, Gray changed things up again, delving into her hit-laden back catalogue and engaging the crowd with renditions of ‘Beauty in the World’ and ‘Let You Win’ from The Sellout along with the upbeat soul-funk number ‘‘When I See You’.
Gray was in great form all night. Not only has her voice stood the test of time, but her charming personality had everyone in the venue smiling and laughing between songs. Whether telling a story with no point about a hopping kangaroo or getting the audience involved with a bit of call and response, there’s a down-to-earth quality about Gray that has no doubt attributed to her long-term success.
There were also a couple of covers thrown into the mix in the form of Bobby Hebb’s ‘Sunny’ and Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, with the latter creating a mass singalong amongst the boisterous audience. Gray then hightailed it off stage with her keyboardist and bassist, leaving her two drummers to take the spotlight with drum solos and a medley of Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B. Goode’, Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti’ and Bill Haley & His Comets’ ‘Rock Around the Clock’.
When Gray re-emerged she’d changed outfits, swapping her original black and white check dress for a deep blue frilly number, although her fingerless black gloves remained. Gray raised the energy to another level, performing a string of upbeat songs from her album The Id, with ‘Sweet Baby’, ‘Relating To A Psychopath’ and the exuberant ‘Sexual Revolution’ finally getting those seated up and dancing along.
Then the song everyone was waiting for got a look in. Telling everyone it was their turn to sing for her, Gray prompted the crowd to sing her #1 charting tune, ‘I Try’, and they duly obliged before Gray took over after the first verse with a mesmerizing version of the 90s classic.
Things got a little strange when Gray got one of her crew to film a TikTok of the audience and then played her new single, ‘I Am’ a collaboration with Big Freedia, over the speakers instead of actually performing it.
‘The Letter’, the final song from On How Life Is was also the last song of the night, with Gray going out on a high and leaving everyone in attendance blown away by her performance.
