Music

Australia’s New Live Music Show ‘The Set’ Has Arrived And Punters Utterly Adore It

"How great to see three world-class artists playing live on a Wednesday night while I'm kicking back in my lounge room."

by Jared Richards  1 November 2018
The Set ABC Review

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Last night, Australia’s new live music TV show The Set made its stellar debut with performances from Wafia, Vera Blue and Baker Boy — and punters absolutely lapped it up.

Think of The Set as your answer to the 2018 version of Recovery — but rather than just a living room, it’s more of a house party, with co-hosts Dylan Alcott and Linda Marigliano weaving us through the night.

Headliner Vera Blue kicked things off with Perennial favourite ‘Regular Touch’, her witchy performance intercut with shots of the sizeable crowd. And much like a house party, they’re just doing their own thing, some bopping politely, others going all-in while their mates munched down on the free food. Watching from home, people were equally enthralled.

Afterwards, the vibe was set when Vera (aka Celia Pavey) jumped off-stage and into the kitchen (where Sydney performance artist Radha La Bia plated up a Singapore feast) for a very casual chat with Alcott and Marigliano, joined by her guests Wafia and Baker Boy.

Somehow, the whole thing felt very genuine — even when the crowd danced to Ciara or when the audience sung Baker Boy a happy 22nd birthday, it seemed fairly ad-hoc and casual. It was just… really fun to watch.

Other performances included Wafia performing her post-breakup anthem ‘I’m Good’, followed by Baker Boy dancing through ‘Mr La Di Da Di’, complete with dancers on either side. Vera Blue returned to sing new single ‘All The Pretty Girls’, and was joined on-stage by Illy for a rendition of their song together, ‘Papercuts’.

The best was saved ’till last though, with Wafia and Baker Boy joining Pavey on-stage for a cover of Youssou N’Dour’s 1994 classic ‘7 Seconds’. Online, people were almost immediately demanding the track be released — and considering the segment was called a ‘Set Piece’, it seems more one-off covers and collabs are on the way. Watch out, Like A Version.

For now, The Set will just be airing throughout November, as part of Australian music month. The line-up’s pretty stacked — over next three weeks, The Presets, Ball Park Music and Angus and Julia Stone will take over an episode to throw their own party, special guests and all.

Hopefully the party comes back — as we wrote back a while ago, live music on television is still essential in 2018, providing a platform that cuts through algorithmic recommendations, not to mention reaching a regional audience that are otherwise disconnected from live shows.

Thankfully, the recently launched MTV Unplugged Australia is going strong, having aired specials with Gangs Of Youths and Amy Shark, with secret plans for acts lined up throughout next year.

You can catch The Set each Wednesday this month at 9.30pm on ABC, and watch back last night’s episode on iView.