Live Review: Vera Blue, Lanks, Gretta Ray

Gretta Ray picks up her acoustic guitar and slowly begins to pluck away at the strings. The audience fall silent and listen intently to her beautiful storytelling and lyrical poetry. It's been a very cool month for Ray, after releasing her song Drive she was crowned the winner of triple j's Unearthed High, and tonight is the first show she's playing since. She tries not to make it too obvious that she's a teenager, but she can't control her excitement. Ray's still in the depths of doing her year 12, but already playing in front of huge crowds of her own - not to mention recently touring with Japanese Wallpaper's live band. Her confidence radiates as she opens up and shares her inner feelings through songs about living in awe of others and long distance relationships. Her voice is warm and soothing with an effortless falsetto that undoubtedly leaves all in complete awe of her talent.

LANKS tells the audience that he has just finished making a new EP due out next month. Tonight, together with his band, they're playing some new music that hasn't been heard before. It's a real treat and one of the new songs, Holla, will be released as his single next Monday. The powerhouse track is filled with exciting sound effects and ridiculous drops that makes the crowd move around the room uncontrollably. Another new track is an absolute banger, with glitchy drums and bouncy reverb that's all tied together with an unconventional yet perfectly fitting flute solo. LANKS is on fire and his imaginative compositions and unique production elements are out of this world.

It's only day three of the impressive 19-show national tour for Vera Blue, and tonight's the first of three sold out shows at Howler. Since playing a support slot at the same venue almost a year ago, Vera Blue have come a long way and continues to soar. They begin with a few tracks from their debut EP Fingertips, followed by a superb cover of Gorillaz' Feel Good Inc. "I'm actually having the best show of my life right now!" says lead singer Celia Pavey. Her illuminating soprano vocals are angelic and captivating. With her long, flowing red hair swirling around the stage, she shares a track that's fittingly inspired by the same vivid colour.

Pavey tells us that they've recently spent some time in the studio working on new songs, a few of which they share with us tonight. Each track has it's own distinct style and one particular standout conjures up an explosive outburst of euphoric dancing during the chorus. Their triple j Like A Version of Jack Garratt's Breathe Life is simply breathtaking and gives us some serious chills. There's no doubt the crowd will be longing to come back for another dose of Vera Blue's magic this weekend.