A tentative Howie Day entered the stage with his dreadnought and a delay pedal of some sort.  It was clear that most of the crowd was there to see the international act in his first breach of our shores.  He played a convincing set lasting for just over 40 minutes.  The guitar in his hands was gracefully used as he played delayed riffs over and hit his guitar to create percussive effects which echoed through the startled crowd. The set rose to a climax during Collide as the crowd sang along enthusiastically. It was more than obvious that Howie Day was greatly amused at the fact that a majority of the crowd were famililar with the song. As the girls beside me screamed the lyrics, Howie stopped the guitar and let the audience to finish the chorus.  

The crowd dispersed into packs as Howie departed the stage, while Whitley fans pressed up towards the stage, eager to get a good glimpse at the Austrailian singer-songwriter.  Being away on a lengthy six-week tour of the US, this was his first Sydney show since his return. Whitley stepped on stage to a sea blue lighting in a country-style shirt, slowly increasing the volume 'til the lights hit and he began his set.

Opening with his naturally-known stylings of slow rock, Whitley kicked out the jams with some heavy rock riffs which set the crowd into dance mode. As still a fairly new fan of his music, it was great seeing the Melbourne artist really mix it up. With the Annandale being much more of an intimate venue the crowd really did become enchanted with the musical stylings.

The rest of his band departed their presence from the stage to leave whitley by himself to realy show his singer song writer aptitude which he is known for. Interestingly, Whitley pulled out a slow refreshing version of Bjork's classic, Hyperballad.  It was interesting hearing the classic in a male voice, strummed out through a lone Telecaster.

The band returned giving the crowd another spliff of upbeat tunes till the hour long set drew to a close.  With the crowd cheering, Whitley entered the stage again for a solo, one song encore.  It's not often that you attend a gig where both the opening act and the main act leave you in such a state of disarray as to be yearning for more.  

Photo by James I. Chen @ Flickr.