Lisa Mitchell covered her face with her hair as she walked through the crowd and on to the stage. I couldn’t help thinking ‘Oh dear, I don’t want to spend the entire gig watching her stare at the floor’. I had nothing to worry about.
The 19 year old Australian’s stage presence was perfect. She looked comfortable with the band, comfortable with the audience and she happily danced about to her brand of indie-folk-pop.
Lisa made several sweet attempts to interact with the somewhat tough audience. Most of the crowd laughed loudly at her quips, a favourite was ‘Welcome to the Cockpit. I like saying that.’
I can’t help thinking that some of the laughter came from audience members who, like me, were trying to compensate for the obnoxious behaviour coming from a loud fellow at the front. Either way, Lisa did a great job of performing for an audience that were mostly only familiar with a handful of her songs.
Everyone had the chance to sing along with their favourite songs, from her debut album Wonder.
Neopolitan Dreams – most famous in the UK for being the song in the Surf laundry advert, and most famous in Australia for being the first hit from the wide eyed 16 year old who didn’t win Australian Idol – was hugely popular. – As was a great cover of Dire Straits’ Romeo and Juliet.
When the lights were turned on and the show was over, Lisa and the band began to make their way off stage, though the crowd. Until an enthusiastic fan caught their attention by shouting out and waving a Wonder album cover in the air.
“Lisa! Lisa! Will you sign this for me?”
“Um, yeah, sure”, she answered and paused to sign it, while the crowd stood around and admired her modesty.
Overall, it was a tidy and enjoyable show from Lisa Mitchell and her band. I was impressed not only by her talent, but also by humility.
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Lisa Mitchell performed at the Cockpit in Leeds, on Sunday 7 March 2010. She has recently been awarded Australia’s answer to the Mercury Music Award: the Australian Music Prize.
