George Ezra had no funky backup dancers, no wild costume changes and no crazy set design.
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It was just a British boy, dressed head to toe in black, with his guitar and his band.
But the booming baritone did not need any extra razzle-dazzle to stun his Brisbane audience on Sunday evening — his voice was enough.
Brisbane’s outdoor Riverstage was the perfect venue for Ezra’s warm upbeat sounds. Picnic blankets lined the amphitheatre for a Sunday session with the ideal summer soundtrack.
The chatty English singer-songwriter did a nice job of explaining the stories behind some of his songs, which added to the intimate backyard concert vibe.
He came up with the idea for Paradise after a nasty bout of food poisoning on a tour bus and Pretty Shining People was hatched after he hung out in a Spanish garden for a few days.
“These new songs are about escaping and dreaming and taking yourself away from everything around you, and I hope you enjoy them," Ezra's deep voice boomed around the venue.
The baby-faced star is touring Australia in support of his second album, Staying At Tamara’s, named for the owner of a Barcelona Airbnb where he composed the record.
“I was in the fortunate position to write the album; I had a month where I could take myself anywhere that I wanted to go," he said.
“Once I decided where I wanted to go, I thought, George, why stay in a hotel when you can find a stranger on the internet and stay in their spare room?”
So the Englishman managed to whip up a cheerful, laidback record while staying in Tamara's spare room.
And while the album may not be a genre-defining musical revolution, it has the kind of music that makes people happy.
Fans were wide-eyed and brimming with puppy love and joy throughout the romantic numbers Hold My Girl and Sugarcoat and singing along to Blame it On Me and Budapest, from his first album.
Ezra's Brisbane audience was an eclectic mix of gleeful grannies, toddlers, teenie boppers and hipsters.
His boyish charm and happy melodies even had a police officer grooving along on the sidelines of the crowd.
The 25-year-old sure has come a long way since his last Brisbane performance, housed at the intimate Tivoli theatre in 2018.
Since then, he has produced the biggest song of the summer, Shotgun, so it may be time for Ezra to up the ante with his live shows. Perhaps a video screen to help the fans at the back catch a better glimpse of what is going on up front.
And perhaps he could approach the police force for some backup dancers; they already seem keen.
