Lizotte’s, Kincumber
Wednesday August 27, 2014 :
After gracing our TV screens in 2013 on The Voice, Celia Pavey embedded herself into the minds of many with a combination of her radiant beauty, goddess like presence and ambrosial vocal ability. Now, as she releases her EP, Bodies, into the atmosphere and heads out on tour, Pavey unveils a new side to her indubitable talent…
Kicking off the tour at Lizotte’s, Central Coast, Pavey took the stage solo and made her ethereal presence felt with a spine tingling rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Scarborough Fair/Canticle’. As her tranquilizing tone sent shivers up the spines of an instantly infatuated audience, it was clear we were in for a spellbinding night. Hollering for her band’s accompaniment, a humbled Pavey warmly debuted material from her much anticipated EP; with ‘Red’ and title track ‘Bodies’ giving the crowd a heavenly taste of her honed and wholesome indie-folk sound, one that she can, in all honesty, call her own. It is apparent that through these songs, Pavey has truly found her place musically, a meticulous combination of rambling folk and easy listening indie-pop.
With a few surprises up her sleeve, Pavey has jaws dropping with an infectious spin on the Gorillaz hit, ‘Feel Good Inc’, before paying delightful homage to her admitted biggest influence, Joni Mitchell; delivering haunting covers of ‘Woodstock’ and ‘Big Yellow Taxi’… causing souls to sway and feet to tap throughout the room. With surprises around every corner, Pavey decided to put down her guitar and launch right on into a cover of Jefferson Airplane’s ‘White Rabbit’, her sudden psychedelic howl widening eyes and revealing a welcomed raw edge to the celestial songbirds delicate approach… proving she could just as well front a banging rock band as well as soothe souls with her cultivated folk lineage.
As the night drew to an end swifter than anyone lost in the euphoria would have liked, Celia Pavey and her band of merry men returned to the stage, adhering to the encore chant and capping off the night with a phenomenal cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’… a fitting end to a night of shudder inducing bliss.
Reviewer: Chloe Webb