Tones and I proves there is pop life after Dance Monkey with her gospel-inspired concert

Tones and I was the antidote for the Monday night winter blues as she finally plays her biggest headlining tour after it was twice postponed by the pandemic.

Tones and I is so much more than Dance Monkey.

As she completes her twice postponed Australian tour this week, Tones is enjoying continued success with her late 2020 single Fly Away and just released her first new track for 2021, Won’t Sleep.

The Byron Bay busker turned global stream queen set a joyous yet intimate vibe for her three-night stand at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre with a performance which relied on her infectious energy and confessional cheerleading.

Tones and her choir bust out the moves at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre. Picture: Richard Dobson

Uniquely accompanied by her vibe squad of about 20 dancing choir singers in robes, she bounced around the stage during the bangers when not triggering the music from the keyboard which was her stock in trade during her fledgling Byron Bay busking discovery days.

She harked back to that era with her covers of Flume and Chet Faker’s Drop The Game, OutKast’s Hey Ya and Alphaville’s Forever Young.

As she shared with the crowd, those covers remain necessary to fill a set ahead of the release of her long-awaited debut album in July.

But her original compositions were the highlights of the gig and showcased a soulful voice which is far more dexterous and colourful live than it has been in recording.

Tones was dressed for the winter chill but brought the heat at her Sydney gig. Picture: Richard Dobson

Like her first ever Triple J Unearthed upload Johnny Run Away, written for her best friend about his coming-out journey, which would launch a label bidding war for her music.

She also shared upcoming album track Lonely, a song specifically written to resonate with the misfits and disenfranchised who have crowned her their musical hero.

There is a little of the pop evangelist – in keeping with the her gospel choir – about Tones as she shares her burning desire to strike connection with her fans and relays the crushing grief she suffered after the death of her friend, footballer Ben Tournier in a car accident in January.

The Dance Monkey star’s vocals were so much more colourful live than on record. Picture: Richard Dobson

Tones carefully balances the angst anthems with the party starters, clearly loving performing new single Won’t Sleep three days after its release, a song inspired by the house parties she enjoyed with her closest friends during lockdown.

With multi-billions of streams for THAT song Dance Monkey and singles Fly Away and Never Seen The Rain, Tones could easily have bust out of theatres and into arenas for her biggest Australian headlining tour thus far.

Tones showcased a couple of new songs from her debut album. Picture: Richard Dobson

But she clearly wants to maintain the intimacy – and vulnerability – of her busking roots at this stage of her career. And the pandemic.

Even as she populates her concert with backdrop videos of her hilarious music clip characters, it is the track-suited, out-of-breath, all-dancing and all-singing Toni Watson and her homespun philosophies about being a decent human being which unite her disparate tribe.

Kids joyously danced and sang with their mum and dad – on a Monday night! – alongside adult music fans who found their own message in her music.

Tones and I performs again at the Enmore Theatre on May 18 and 19.