ANOHNI and the Johnsons at Sydney Opera House, Photograph by Jordan Munns
ANOHNI and the Johnsons performed at the Sydney Opera House, on Tubowgule, Gadigal Country, on Monday 26 May.
A sense of longing and loss has been present in the music of ANOHNI and the Johnsons since they first broke through in the early 2000s. Rarely, however, has that feeling of loss felt as tangible and quantifiable as it does at the group’s first of two shows at the Sydney Opera House.
Billed as their last-ever Australian shows, the Johnsons have put together Mourning The Great Barrier Reef for this year’s Vivid LIVE, part live performance, part documentary, part distress signal, part funeral.
ANOHNI’s voice is, as always, what strikes you first: its shaken, quivering timbre and its stark resonance, felt emphatically within the walls of the Opera House Concert Hall. Whether it’s the heartbreaking “Another World” or the righteous anger that comes with the blues standard “Motherless Child,” every last word she sings resonates to your very core.
Mourning The Great Barrier Reef is part live performance, part documentary, part distress signal, part funeral.
This is also true of the climate scientists and coral reef researchers interviewed for the show. Their words are projected onto the screen behind the band, engendering a profound silence from the audience.
As the footage of the Reef transmogrifies from beautiful to devastating, the audience is confounded by an overwhelming sense of emotion – simultaneously mourning what’s dead and wanting to fight like hell for what’s still living.
We rise to our feet as the Johnsons take their final bow, aware of our good fortune for getting to share this experience together, and appreciating that – much like our dying friend on the north coast – our time is fleeting and should be spent wisely.
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