It is an amazing feeling to see such talented musicians play live. It makes you feel all sorts of things and it was truly an amazing experience to watch the incredible Rhys Lewis open for the amazing Julia Michaels.
On the 4th of September, Julia Michaels began the first night of her Inner Monoluge Tour in Melbourne’s iconic venue, The Forum. The show was stellar from the opening act all the way to the final song. The energy in the room was electric and by the end of the night, all the mums and dads that came with their young daughters were even seen even jumping around with the rest of the crowd. As a major Julia Michaels fan myself, I had extremely high hopes and expectations for the night and I can honestly say, my hopes and expectations were smashed out of the park.
In all honestly, I hadn’t heard of the English opening act from Oxford, Rhys Lewis, prior to the tour. However, after his 30 minute set, I became a passionate fan. What I loved most was the simplicity of his set- A simple moody lit stage and only accompanied by keys and at times guitar played by the singer himself. Singing songs such as End Like This, Living in the City and Hold onto Happiness, Rhys Lewis shone bright and captivated the audience with his strong yet vulnerable vocals. I think that the talented musician was such an amazing choice to open for Julia Michaels,as he really drew in the attention from the audience and warmed everyone up in the most perfect way. What I also really admired was the down to earth nature and humble stage presence that Rhys obtained. I was lucky enough to meet the singer after the show and he is truly is that down to earth, humble character he portrays on stage.
Now moving onto the main act of the night- Julia Michaels. The excitement was at an all time high by the time the singer graced the stage. After running behind schedule by 30 minutes, everyone was beyond ready for the singer to own that stage and let me tell you, she really did. Before I get into the performance its self, lets just take a moment to appreciate the stage props and design. The stage was filled with beautiful bright yellow sunflowers and red/pink roses that made the stage just pop; it was like being in a bright, sunny garden. The singer came out literally jumping into her first song, wearing a very fun little yellow ensemble. The colour yellow represents happiness and I really love the connection that Michaels made between the colours used to support the theme of the performance- happiness, confidence and self love. She presented all the crowd favourites such as the Fifty Shades Darker feature song, Heaven, and other hits such as Uh Huh, Hurt Again and “the song that started it all,” Issues. The singer broke all the boundaries (literally) by jumping off stage and made her way into the audience to perform 3 songs amongst crying, screaming fans. Michaels is admirable for her bravery- All night long she spoke about living life by your own rules and “not giving a fuck” about anyone else. She also brought up issues relating to anxiety and depression and gave the audience a personal and motivational talk about being able to express these issues and that it's okay to not feel happy all the time. There were many happy tears and many moments that made Julia Michaels even more special to her fans- She opened up to the audience and let us in and that it was made the show even more magical.
Like the rest of the sell out crowd at The Forum, I left with my heart full and my mind racing thanks to the unbelievable night that was presented to us. A massive shout out goes to Rhys Lewisfor coming down to Australia to kick of the amazing Julia Michaels tour. These 2 musicians have an incredible on stage presence and they are undoubtedly going to nail the rest of this tour.