Reviewed on Friday January 23 (photo by Katrina Clarke)

On paper, Passenger delivered a stereotypical – almost painfully so – folk rock set. When he quipped, “It’s hard to hate anything while you’re sitting down,” it felt like he’d issued a challenge. The set-up: slightly unkempt, bearded man onstage with an acoustic guitar. Too-tight jeans. Repeated, compulsory audience participation to give an intimate ‘around-the-campfire’ feel. To top it off – a Simon & Garfunkel cover.

But somehow Passenger AKA Michael Rosenberg managed to transcend the clichés of folk rock to deliver – and it’s almost hard to type this – a fantastic night. Starting with ‘Rolling Stone’, Passenger made the entire arena fall silent enough to give his sparse guitar melody room to take hold. In contrast, tracks like ‘The Wrong Direction’ were given a new life as he pulsed along with the strummed chords and created a denser, more powerful sound than should be possible without a backing band.

There’s no doubt his years of busking have contributed to his impressive stage presence. It’s not often a single person can command a stage and audience for an entire performance, but he added in enough charm and story-telling to make it feel like a far more intimate evening than the Qantas Credit Union Arena should allow. ‘Life’s For The Living’ took on an alt-country quality, and lines like “Life’s for the living so live it / Or you’re better off dead” felt like real wisdom being imparted.

The song that propelled him to the spotlight, ‘Let Her Go’, was placed about three-quarters in, a refreshing turn. It was accompanied by the story of his (admittedly remarkable) rags-to-riches journey. From a backstage “cupboard with chips” where he wrote the hit in 45 minutes to his headlining world tour, it’s been a very long road.

It was when Rosenberg said thank you for supporting “real music” that the evening seemed to make more sense. Passenger has never been an ‘on paper’ artist. His power is in his live performance, which is something that more artists should be able to trade on.

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