One of Melbourne’s favourite sons, Dan Sultan, returned home to perform an intimate show for his fans in the lead up to his fourth studio album. As a lot of music venues have disappeared over the years in Melbourne, it was great to be attending a live show in St Kilda, featuring this well-known Australian artist who has won several ARIA awards.

The evening opened with Dan joking that this wasn’t a tour. He had recently returned from Kenya in Africa for the charity ‘The Thin Line Foundation’ where he connected with the local Maasai Community Rangers in their homeland.

Dan performed the first set on keyboard and I was unaware of his talent at playing this instrument; I’m so use to seeing Dan perform with his guitar, however it was a nice change to witness him perform in this solo format.

The audience heard some of the new material from Dan’s upcoming release which included, ‘Easier Man’, ‘Magnetic’ and his current single ‘Hold It Together’. Audiences were also treated to some of the old favourites during the second set with songs from his previous albums, including ‘Blackbird’, ‘Dirty Ground EP’, ‘Get Out While You Can’ and ‘Homemade Biscuits’.

Dan paid tribute to the Rockdogs by having a scarf of this beloved team on his microphone stand. The Rockdogs play in the Reclink Community Cup which is held each year between Melbourne’s music community.

Not a fan of an encore, Dan’s final song of the evening was a fitting tribute to another well-known Melbourne suburb – you guessed it – ‘Old Fitzroy’!

Dan did not disappoint in this intimate set that made me feel like he was performing in my local pub, and as I left St Kilda on a musical high (both due to the wonderful set and my new musical note platform shoes) I didn’t think about the long train trip home to Ballarat.

Written By Belinda Price @coffeebreakwithbelinda