Sweet and sour moments as DOPE LEMON plays hometown show

Sydney Morning Herald

a day ago

MUSIC
DOPE LEMON
Enmore Theatre, July 31
Reviewed by NADIA RUSSELL
★★★½
As a thrumming psychedelic groove takes its hold over the crowd, a young woman in the audience holds up half of a cut, squished lemon to take a photo of it in front of the band – this is a DOPE LEMON concert.
Australian singer-songwriter Angus Stone has been using the moniker for almost a decade. But he has been in the industry for more than twice that time, and it shows. From the moment he takes to the stage to the second he leaves, he is comfortable and at ease in front of the 2000-plus odd people who've come out on a cold, rainy Sydney night to Enmore Theatre. More importantly, he's enjoying himself as he grooves along to the beat, even dancing with a member of the band at one point.
This wasn't just any show, though, on this leg of the – this was a hometown show, which Stone acknowledged throughout, playing a cover of Midlake's Roscoe, and making the audience feel that little bit more special.
But for the most part, DOPE LEMON leant into a setlist that was solid – albeit including only a few tracks from the new album and missing a few niche hits – with transcendent guitar solos interspersed throughout. It's a groove that put you under its spell, and when each song ended the trance broke, leaving the audience wanting more.
The band did not break up the songs too much, with plenty of seamless transitions just giving Stone time to change guitars, which he did for nearly every song. They started strong with Stonecutters, before dipping into a slower pace that only ramped back up about halfway through when the audience seemed to have warmed up enough (and perhaps had more to drink) to really vibe with the music.
Many performers have back-up dancers and DOPE LEMON featured women with their faces hidden under large animal masks that came on stage for a select few numbers to sway along like it was the 1960s. They started as two and finished as six, also including a stoner and, of course, a lemon. Although harmless, as this was the only presence of women on stage in a performance by an all-male band it left a sour taste.
The band, however, were richly talented and brought great energy to the stage. Both the guitarist and bassist came to the edge of the stage to interact with the crowd while Stone held back, confined by the guitar in his hands and the microphone stand. But that didn't seem to matter to the audience who were enthusiastically enjoying the music.
Stone would eventually venture to the crowd from his spot on centre stage, with the closing number of the set, Uptown Folks, putting the crowd in raptures. It finished the initial set on such a high that the response to the first encore Yamasuki - Yama Yama was underwhelming until Home Soon brought the energy back up again. It would have been great to have seen more of this energy from Stone earlier in the set, but the more laid-back attitude suits him and his music.