THE support acts made everyone a bit sleepy but when Missy Higgins finally walked on stage any hint of that was gone.
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Wearing some sort of flower-wreath-necklace apparently given her by a local florist (one adorned the mic stand as well) she bounced into the room with energy not usually reserved for the heavily pregnant.
When I saw her live at the Entertainment Centre several years ago she was a bit nervous, and a bit awkward.
This time she still didn't know what to do with her arms, and several bouts of patter were forcefully aborted with a sudden song, but the power in her voice blew me away. She was still drinking chamomile tea on stage.
My problem with sit-down, quiet, reserved concerts is the fact it's frowned upon for the audience to sing along. It was particularly hard on Friday night. There were definitely a few times my partner gave me bemused (but affectionate) looks, and the lady on my right was leaning pretty far away.
But the show was fun and full of bright, sparky energy.
Higgins was infectiously giggly and warm, and her band (which included Sydney Chamber Orchestra strings) was incredible.
A backdrop of film from Higgins' earlier career may have added some context for die-hard fans, but I found it more than a little self-indulgent.
The songs themselves were mostly soaring and a fine collection of originals and numbers from her new covers album.
Her rendition of The Drones' Shark Fin Blues was beautiful and her performance of Paul Kelly's Before Too Long was vastly improved with visuals (and without Amanda Palmer).
However a very awkward description of what she thought (incorrectly) The Angels' She Keeps No Secrets was about ended with the unfortunate admission that, of course, she couldn't really identify with a song about a sex worker.
Her own songs were almost too familiar but Higgins reinvented them without destroying the melody. An audience-sung chorus of Scar lifted the mood a bit, but added some fairly off-key voices to the mix.
Saying she thought it was weird to go off stage and wait for the inevitable screams of "Encore!" Higgins just played all her songs, then two more, then exited the stage.
The crowd went wild and went home.
Fun evening. Excellent entertainer.
And ... awkward.
