Olivia Dean is currently wowing audiences on the Laneway Festival lineup as it makes its way around New Zealand and Australia. Noted as a highlight on the bill, her mid afternoon set has showcased just how much of a star she is, and the love she’s get back in return has cemented that. With her headline shows selling out in minutes, the energy surrounding these dates felt very special. Walking into the Sydney show, I immediately noted that I’d never seen The Roundhouse that packed before, with the crowd spilling way into the bar area and everyone just trying to grab the best view of her that they could.

As Olivia walked out onto the stage for opening song “UFO” the crowd erupted with a massive roar and started singing along word-for-word a she went into “OK Love You Bye”, “Echo”, “Danger” and live standout “Time”. Looking out to the crowd in shock by how much love they were giving back to her she emotionally exclaimed “We are the furthest from home we could be right now, so thank you. I’m wearing my favourite dress I think I’ve ever worn – I’ve been saving it for you Sydney”. She also revealed early on that her mother had flow in for the show, and she watched so proudly from the sound desk for the entire night. 

The setlist was an impressive lengthy adaption of what she’d been doing on the Laneway Festival run, making sure she did all of the album deep cuts and fan favourites everyone had been patiently waiting to hear. “What Am I Gonna Do On Sundays?”. “No Man”, “Messy” and “Touching Toes” were some of these extra songs, along with a cover of Kelis’ “Millionaire”. But one of the show’s most raw moments was when she sat down at the piano for the stripped back “Everybody’s Crazy” before going into “Dangerously Easy”. 

With only one album currently out in the world, Olivia teased that she has been working on a new record and wanted to play something unreleased. “Nice To Each Other” is an upbeat track that showcased an elevated direction that is tentatively more pop leaning. As she steered into the final portion of the show, there were no pre-planned encores, and she just finished strongly with a big band version of “Ladies Room”, and the songs that have led her to the acclaimed status she’s at now; her debut single “Reason To Stay”, the breakout “The Hardest Part”, the grandma dedicated “Carmen”, and the euphorically charged love song “Dive”. 

For the 80 minute show, she exuded this effortlessness that can only be described as star power, and she commanded the audience in a way that had me in awe. The show was a mixture of emotional, euphoric, and cathartic. Her accompanying band matched her energy in an elevated way and left you wanting to witness the entire show again. And throughout the set they had carved out all these beautiful individual moments that felt like perfectly placed highlights. To an audience member it felt like a very special show, but you could also tell that it felt like a special show to Olivia who seemed just as in-love with the crowd as they were of her. 

Photo by Jordan Munns