Just a week after having the brilliance that is Kate Miller-Heidke introduced to my ears for the first time I had the luck of catching her headlining gig at World Cafe. Currently on tour with Ben Folds she dropped into town for one of the few solo shows she has booked for her North American visit.
Miller-Heidke travels light – she was joined on stage by her husband Keir Nutall (on guitar) and a keyboard – but this woman really needs nothing other than her absolutely stunning voice to take your breath away. Stripped bare of drums, effects, background vocals and other elements present on her album her classically trained voice provided all the quirk, charm and emotion she is known for, and then some. At times her voice was flawlessly delicate, skipping lightly up and down through an astonishingly wide vocal range. I teared up during her silvery rendition of “Our Song,” the spare arrangement was perfect for the sweet piece. At other moments she grabbed hold of a song and really sunk her teeth in; adding bits of vocal percussion with operatic dexterity to achieve the necessary richness.
Miller-Heidke’s has a very casually theatrical stage presence and a comfortable wit that tied the set together. Talking her way into her pausingly sad song “The Last Day On Earth” she noted it gained her a lot of attention because it was featured on a tragic episode of the Australian show Neighbours during which a teen mom died. So, she suggested, to feel the song’s full effect just imagine a young mother dying. It was a humble decoy though, no disclaimer was required to recognize the song’s beauty. Even while singing she gave playful visual flourishes, at one point she held a note for an very long time all the while making faces.
Humor is also a key element in Miller-Heidke’s music. She did a fabulously jazz/scat cover of Britney Spear’s “Toxic” that I wish I could have recorded and ended the set with the other song she is well known for “Are You F#*king Kidding Me,” an ode to Facebook. Now, having seen Kate Miller-Heidke live I hope she recognizes the benefit of less-is-more and records an album it the same style she performed that night. It was amazing.
Kate Miller-Heidke is amazing thats for sure. Huge fan even when she wasnt well kown i have been supporting her the whole way
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You say you wish you’d filmed her cover of toxic? No worries. I did it for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmwAEeEGhPM
Wow! That is awesome. Thanks for the share.
I like how you say Kate ‘travels light’. hah! Her voice carries her far enough, without a big ambiance. I wish I could have heard her scatting Britney Spears, she was probably hilarious. I am going to catch her in New York, I hope she covers it there! I have been listening to Politics in Space on repeat for a week straight now, so I thought I’d share and get it in your head too
http://littlewingmarketing.com/kmh/uploads/Politics-In-Space.mp3