Tia Gostelow

From the bustle of Brisbane Festival’s ‘Family Day’ on a sunny Saturday afternoon, young and old poured into the intimate Spiegeltent for a change of pace.

As the lights dimmed and Tia Gostelow, the cooly confident young songstress of the hour, graced the stage with her band, the excitement of outside was quickly forgotten.

The curious audience was tempted by the intro to opening track ‘Vague Utopia’ and soon warmly welcomed by Gostelow’s bold and powerful vocals.

The set transported us from a sticky spring afternoon to a world of mesmerising dream pop.

On the first anniversary of her debut album’s release, the set celebrated this collection of moody, coming-of-age bops (with the additional cover and newly released single).

Highlights included her very first single ‘State Of Art’, “written years ago,” about a friend’s boyfriend who she admittedly, “didn’t like very much”.

‘Strangers’, a testament to the promise of blossoming young love, was also a captivating track.

Introducing the song with the declaration, “I hate love songs,” Gostelow showed a cheeky and down-to-earth side, contrasting the effortless cool that oozed from her performance.

Peppering the set with snippets of candid insight into the tracks, admitting that she only brought 14 copies of her album to sell after the show and even inviting us to buy her a drink, Tia was as humble and charming as she was soulful and talented.

The groovy ‘Phone Me’, another youth-fueled indie banger, closed out the set on a joyful note and left me smiling at the afternoon spent with enchanting Tia Gostelow and her capable band.

I entered the magical Spiegeltent familiar with a handful of Gostelow’s songs from the radio.

Charmed by infectious tunes, honest banter and flawless toasty warm vocals, I left as a fully-fledged fan.