Caroline Polachek at Forum Melbourne
Caroline Polachek soars to new heights in her first Australian tour
Having caught some of her recent shows across Europe and the UK over the past few years, we were incredibly excited to see Caroline Polachek perform in our hometown. Bringing her avant-garde art pop to Melbourne, Caroline’s shows at the Forum sold out in record time as the adoring crowd welcomed her with open arms. Witnessing her ethereal and airy vocals perform the majority of her solo discography from Pang and 2023’s album Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, Caroline’s first shows in our city left us in awe at just how talented she really is.
Support for the evening was New York City artist True Blue (AKA Maya Laner). The instrumentalist, producer and songwriter was a logical choice for support; her music connecting with all of the indie pop fans in the audience. From opening track Bad Behavior, through to Airplane Mode and I Wanna Believe, True Blue (or Strewth Blue – as she wanted to be called for her Australian tour) captivated the crowds and left them wanting more. Closing out with Lucy (Club), we hope to see True Blue again soon.
As the clock counted down, it was time for Caroline Polachek to grace the stage for night one in Melbourne. The pop star came out in a shiny red bodysuit and launched straight into Welcome To My Island – showcasing her incredible vocal range, dancing and overall stage presence. Telling the crowd she’d been thinking about Melbourne since August when the tickets went on sale (and sold out immediately), she let us know how excited she was to finally get here while performing Pretty in Possible. Next song up, Bunny Is A Rider was one of our favourites from the latest release and had the crowd going wild – the album recently being voted the second best album of 2023 by Pitchfork.
With a headline show debut of Dang, Caroline took things from delicate whispers to powerful, operatic heights for Sunset, as she urged the crowd to sing along. Crude Drawing of an Angel talked about non-consensual drawing, while things got emotional for Ocean of Tears and I Believe – dedicated to SOPHIE. We hear a mash up of Delete Forever by Grimes and Dido’s Thank You, before the final chorus of Fly to You. Making up for lost time, Caroline tells us that she didn’t get to tour Pang in Australia and wanted to throw it back for a second; performing the title track from the album, which happened to be one of our absolute favourites live. Caroline talks about crushes for Blood and Butter, and at one point we witness a goose puppet show in the audience (because ‘the arts’) during Parachute, while the band are introduced as Butterfly Net and Billions are performed.
After asking if anyone has self-sabotaging tendencies, we launch into Caroline Shut Up, before Smoke and final track (and mega hit) So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings. As Caroline stands in awe of the crowd’s love, we hear her thank True Blue one last time and dance along as we laugh at the audience members showing her an inflatable banana in the crowd. Returning for an encore of Hopedrunk Everasking – a spiritual one that really creeps up on you and highlights her full range of vocals – we close out on the night on Door. With the closing track labelled as a love song, we reminisce on what Caroline describes as ‘a really special evening’. We head home thankful for being able to catch Caroline in Melbourne after all these years, and have a hint of jealously for those also attending on night two.