Live Review: Xavier Rudd, Maximillian

The painted-blue-skies of the venue create natural ambience with Maximillian playing a solid set of acoustically driven, fingerpicking guitar tunes. The rowdy crowd and feedback loop distorted his brief banter, but the audience was full of sunshine, despite the hour, and cheered anyway. His cover of The Jacksons 5's I Want You Back popped with the simplicity of one man, a guitar, and the spotlight, highly reminiscent of early-career Xavier Rudd.

It was the Xavier Rudd show but he brought a band. The set-up was unconventional, with a keyboardist, Rudd, bassist Yoseph Haile and a female drummer spread left to right across the stage, with not one musician elevated above the others. Rudd celebrated his band's diversity later in the night with the Ethiopian flag featured in honour of Haile, who features on ninth studio album Storm Boy. Opener Honeymoon Bay was strong, the vibration already lifting, before Rusty Hammer and Come Let Go.

An instrumental didgeridoo number was a hit, before the reggae stylings of Feet On The Ground lifted the roof, followed by Come People, Fly Me High and the title track off Storm Boy. Then it was Walk Away and Breeze, the crowd attempting to anticipate each song from the rhythm alone. For once they got it right as he closed with Follow The Sun, which while brilliant was overshadowed by punters' need to capture it on their mobile phones, blocking the stage. Rudd's vibrations need to be experienced first-hand. 

His sound has evolved over the past decade, with Rudd playing an electric guitar for much of the night, without it diminishing his ability as a percussionist or the roots of his sound. Rudd's ability to connect with people from all walks of life is what elevates his performances. The audience was dressed in jeans, business suits, fancy frocks and Sea Shepherd T-shirts, showing that there is no one kind of music fan; Rudd's music transcends race, gender and class, breaking down barriers between people, and that's just the way he likes it.

Rudd returned to whistles and screams of joy for an encore, confirming that the king was back after a two-hour long set. A giant purple and blue lion was projected behind the stage during Lioness Eye, demonstrating that despite his excellent band, when limited to drums, didgeridoo and percussion Rudd is still a powerhouse, before leading into Let Me Be.