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Serena Ryder supported Missy Higgins at Canberra's Royal Theatre on 13 April 2005 . Ryder is a singer/guitarist/songwriter from Canada.

Ryder opened with an out of control a capella performance that was reminiscent of the bonus track from Alanis Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill, but much louder. I might be getting hung up on the similarity of their accents a little too much, but I ended up seeing Ryder as an Alanis Morissette caricature. Some of her songs were interesting, but she was inconsistent in many ways... though the far-too-consistently loud volume of her voice overrode any other inconsistencies and just made her boring.

Also, her guitar playing or equipment, or both, let her down. First, she stopped playing in the middle of her second song and tuned her guitar. Later, she managed to produce some low pitched booms (or feedback?) that were so impressive she stopped and asked the sound crew if they had any idea what was happening! Her playing generally sounded "scratchy". Later, when her guitar was going consistently out of tune, she asked to borrow one from another artist. Perhaps she was just having a bad night? However, being international performer who travels the world with a single guitar does not sound like a good plan.

Having said all of that, Serena Ryder may well be "the next big thing", since a fair percentage of the audience seemed supportive of her performance. She displayed a very loud and impressive vocal range, some interesting song-writing and an interesting attitude towards performing. However, I was glad when it was over.