Father John Misty ★★★½
Enmore Theatre, January 31

Imagine if you will a parallel universe in which doomsday-prophesising folk rockers play stadiums and Bruno Mars can't quite fill a suburban theatre.

In this strange world Josh Tillman's Pure Comedy – the third release from the former Fleet Foxes drummer's alter ego Father John Misty – would surely have won Album of the Year at this week's Grammys.

As it was, he won Best Vinyl Packaging for Pure Comedy's Hieronymous Bosch-inspired art, and his "acceptance" speech to this adoring crowd contained a telling line amid the parody.

"When I was growing up, everyone told me it's what's on the inside that matters … I think this is really evidence that it's what's outside that matters."

A Father John Misty show is all about the surface as well, with the emotional life of Josh Tillman mostly hidden behind the sunglasses he wore the entire gig.

Misty's ballads about the downfall of mankind, where we're all "demented monkeys" on this "godless rock that refuses to die", are clever and catchy but too calculated to transport a live audience.

There was a bigger response to simpler songs where Tillman himself seemed more invested, such as the soulful Real Love Baby ("I'm a flower/You're my bee/It's much older than you and me") or the hypnotic ode to escapism, So I'm Growing Old On Magic Mountain.

"Play it at 45 and it sounds like a Dolly Parton song," Misty tipped us.

With a remarkably pure voice that slides effortlessly into falsetto yet clearly enunciates every one of the all-important lyrics, Misty's stage presence was such that he could probably get away without having a band.

That said, his sextet did lend drama to songs such as Bored in the USA that could otherwise be overly academic.

If Tillman's nom de plume and "hipster Jesus" image is a gimmick, it's a hugely entertaining one. Next visit, he's welcome to take off the shades.