Mia Wray played her biggest show to date last night at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel.
It’s been quite the year for Mia. Her beautiful debut album, Hi it’s Nice to Meet me, skyrocketed to number 1 in the Australian charts and she’s now embarking on a practically sold out tour of Australia.
Mia was so evidently humbled last night as she took the stage to a full Corner Hotel. If she hadn’t completely released what a queer icon she has become, hopefully last night cemented that status in her brain as a pride flag was thrust upon stage early in the night and she sang to a sea of waving tiny flags the whole night. In these times we need all the LGBTQIA+ joy we can get and last night very much brought it!
She opened with album title track Nice to Meet Me and the obvious relief on her face when the crowd chanted back those key lines was palpable. This wasn’t just a bunch of people here for a night out before a public holiday, we were here for her and we were damn well going to show up.
Her talent was undeniable as she worked her way through track after track from the album. Both her vocals and the band were flawless. She performed an acoustic rendition of What if, which was absolutely mesmerising. Towards the end of the track she encouraged the audience to sing along, and I’m not sure she realised that the fact we all fell silent was because we were so truly spellbound by this gorgeous rendition of the song.
The night managed to feel both curated yet intimate and personal. Mia had clearly put a lot of thought into how she wanted to deliver these tracks live. She flipped between solo acoustic style performances and full band tracks, even adding a horns section and backup singers for certain songs. It’s one skill making a record that lands well, it’s an entirely different one to deliver that record live and Mia nailed it!! You left feeling like you’d heard perfect renditions of album favourites but also something a little special in some of the adjusted live versions, which still managed to convey the essence of each song.
In addition to this is Mia’s chatty engagement with the audience. She’s just so incredibly likeable. She can’t hide her emotions well and you watch her anxiety as she first steps out melt away into pure excitement (bordering on overwhelm by the end) as she settles into her set. She delivered a couple of tracks back to back before saying very much, and I think this is an excellent choice. She settles herself with her craft, her reason for being there, before finding her words. Her tendency to overshare and stumble over her thoughts at times were both highly relatable and incredibly endearing.
If you ever get the opportunity to see Mia Wray live, not only will you be blown away by her talent, you’ll be captivated by her personality. I’m so excited that one day I’ll get to say “I saw Mia Wray in an 800 person venue” because she is undoubtedly going to go on to bigger and better things.
Listen to “Hi, it’s Nice to Meet Me” here.