posted by david on Sat 3 Jul 2004 @ 12:59 AM

Somewhere in the Cyndi Lauper catalog there's a haunting song by the title of "Fearless". While she didn't play that song tonight, that was the word that kept popping into my brain. Fearless. After a dumbfoundingly appalling support act (not quite as bad the support act on the recent Radiohead tour - these guys were listenable at least), Cyndi bounded on to stage and within the first couple of songs had clambered up on to the speaker stacks, the grand piano and on top of someone's seat in the middle of an adoring crowd. More surprisingly, such 'stunts' didn't feel gimmicky because she never stopped singing her heart out, showcasing a voice that is better remembered by most people for it's quirks than for it's devastating range and power. She twisted some covers (eg. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, Walk On By) and a few of her own songs (She Bop, Time After Time) and threw in some complete rockers (It's Hard To Be Me, Sisters Of Avalon). I came away from the show thinking that Cyndi is not only a complete original, she's probably one of the more exciting - and, yes, fearless - performers I've ever seen.

posted by david on Tue 23 Dec 2003 @ 03:59 PM

You could say Lisa is having a good couple of years. Last year her "Car Tape" album got a lot of attention (including an ARIA nomination) and this year she's launched her new album "Version Originale" and landed the support slot for Neil Young's Australian tour. I was ambivalent about the new album for most of the year (Car Tape did nothing for me) but some of the new stuff is starting to click with me and the best way to see it is in the live setting. The key fault with the new album is the sequencing: it opens strong but seems to fade a little as it closes, as if it opts for too much mellow stuff near the end. A live performance means everything gets mixed up, arrangements get re-worked (stripped back or rocked out) and everything just feels right. Her band can't be faulted and the atmosphere seems so relaxed that when guests like Jen Anderson drop in to add her own touches, the audience only has more reason to grin.

see the rest...

posted by david on Tue 28 Oct 2003 @ 10:32 PM

I'm not a big blues nut, I have the Robert Johnson box set and I love it when Eric Clapton plays blues but it's not a genre I usually follow. I went along to the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society's "Blues Performer of the Year" gig mainly because I wanted to get some decent photos of Andrea Marr (a friend of a friend). I ended up taking a whole bundle of photos (as I do) and found the acts somewhere between interesting and great. At our table, we predicted that Ash Grunwald would win (as he did) but my favourite act for the evening was "Chubby Rae and the Elevators" who had a big fat sound with the sort of searing guitar I love.

see the rest...

posted by david on Mon 22 Sep 2003 @ 10:19 PM

I don't know much about Tess McKenna. I first came across her when she was playing as part of a Dylan tribute gig at the dearly-departed Continental in 2000. That night it was fascinating to see the grin on her face as she draped her wonderful voice over a crack backing band. I think the launch of "Boom Bam" may have been the first time since that performance that she'd played with a full band and it's easy to speculate that the Dylan shows were a turning point, as if she'd decided that she wanted to try the rocking out thing for a bit, first recording the upbeat "Boom Bam" album and then assembling a bunch of friends to send it out into the world with a bang. I haven't picked up the album yet but I'll be interested to hear it because the fusion of her wonderful voice with a full riffing rock sound worked well, with the occasional departure to something jazzy or country to demonstrate her range. I hope Tess enjoyed the show as much as I did.

see the rest...

posted by david on Mon 1 Sep 2003 @ 09:54 PM

Comparing notes after the gig with a friend, we agreed that this time, Chris didn't seem to have the urgency we remembered. Having spoken to Chris earlier in the day at a Basement Discs in-store appearance, the fact that he'd arrived in Australia at 5:30am earlier that day and already missed two Australian shows due to airline mayhem might explain him being a little more restrained than we expected. For the Chris-newbies I had dragged along that lack of urgency may have left them less impressed than I was the first time I saw him live. Nevertheless, Chris is always an extraordinary performer and this time around it was his vocals I noticed more than anything. Sure, there's the blues influence there but there's also a soul feel in the way his voice strides around a tune. Very powerful. He played a few of the songs from the new album "Hotel Vast Horizon" and I must admit that they seemed to work better in the live setting than they do on record. Or maybe it's just that I needed the live setting to appreciate the songs. On a purely technical level, it was fascinating to watch him re-tuning his guitar after each song as he doesn't use anything as orthodox as a capo.

posted by david on Sat 14 Jun 2003 @ 06:13 PM | read or post comments (2)

Music to clear your head. There was nothing subtle about it but after a week of work, it's good to hear something that was just, well, loud. Steve Miller explained beforehand that it was a case of Clare and Chris whipping up a storm while the guitarists hung on for dear life and contributed what they could. Throw in Dave Graney as frontman and you've got a rock band quite unlike any other. Thanks for the ticket Steve, it was fun.

see the rest...

posted by david on Tue 6 May 2003 @ 09:22 PM

The idea of seeing David Gray live is a novel one, given that the carefully constructed albums on which his international success is based (White Ladder, A New Day At Midnight) don't exactly inspire rampant leaping about the room. The drum machines powering White Ladder help his unique blend of songwriting stand out in a crowd but they're not necessarily dancefloor fillers. I went to this show out of curiosity, piqued by seeing the enthusiasm of the crowds on his live DVD release - was he really that compelling on stage? The answer is no, David is not a compelling performer, but I can well understand the crowd reaction to his show. Of the various gigs I've been to at the Palais, this one had the loudest encore I've yet heard there. David has chosen his band wisely, knowing that giving good musicians excellent material to work with is sure to pay off. The obvious focal point of the performance is drummer Clune, a wiry, manic creature whose playing reminds me of the Energizer bunny (with fluorescent drumsticks in hand). While David clearly enjoys himself on stage, his between song banter was limited to naming the song he was about to play. Indeed, the songs were key as the band artfully expanded and fleshed them out without reducing their impact. David's instantly recognisable voice soared and crooned, his passionate vocals stamping songs like "Please Forgive Me", "Babylon" and "Freedom" with real heart. It was a wonderful night of music made extraordinary by the simple tools used to create it. If you like him on record, try him live, he's well worth it.

posted by david on Sun 1 Dec 2002 @ 03:03 PM | read or post comments (3)

Chris Isaak likes to party, especially when he's surrounded by a couple of thousand friends who wanna party too. Last night, that's what happened. An unashamed showman, Chris had the audience eating out of his hand after only a few songs with an irresistably entertaining mix of bawdy humour, energy, silly suits and some rocking music graced by his devastating voice. With Silvertone, his band of 17 years standing, Chris showcased songs from across his career plus a laidback cover of Roy Orbison's "Only The Lonely". His antics iincluded a stroll around the top balcony, inviting audience members on stage to dance and swapping places with his drummer for a song (yes, Chris played drums and his drummer sang). Musically, his band may not be groundbreaking but they're a slick unit who tackle his simple and catchy 60s-pop songs with aplomb and they're always ready to act the straightmen to Chris's tongue-in-cheek clown. His rapport with his audience was effortless, whether it be drily commenting "you're late" to two people hurriedly making their way to their front row seats mid-song or cracking up in laughter when someone held up the handcuffs they'd brought along. After the show, he and two members of his band then spent over an hour in the foyer autographing merchandise and chatting to fans. This was one of the best gigs I've seen in a while - DO NOT miss him if you get the chance to catch him live.

see the rest...

posted by david on Tue 26 Nov 2002 @ 12:07 PM

Tim Fraser writes "I was going to send along some thing for your G-String page about the concert I saw last week, Paul McCartney, and I had a look at it this afternoon and saw your comments. The following is a view from the the other side: someone who actually got to go. Below is a transcript from the Daily Yomiuri Newspaper in Japan following the opening night of the 5 Japan shows (3 in Tokyo, 2 in Osaka) and a correct-ish song list (there are 2 songs missing but I`ll be damned if I can remember where they go or what they are!) but before that is a little blurb from me... if you want to use it do with it what you will...

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posted by david on Sun 27 Oct 2002 @ 01:24 AM | read or post comments (1)

There's a whiff of money about Kasey. No, I'm not talking about how many albums she has sold (and she's sold a few). Based on her performance tonight, I'm beginning to wonder what drives what: does the money drive the music or does the music drive the money? When she generously gave her two support acts over an hour to play their music to her sold out crowd, there was a sense that it was going to be a rollicking big night of music. But then Kasey played a main set that ran for less than an hour, and after only 70 mins on stage, including the requisite encore, she called it a night. Don't get me wrong, she's very entertaining and her music is robust but it struck me as one of the shortest main sets I've seen over the past couple of years from any performer. Why did she plug her merchandising twice during the show? Why did anyone carrying a camera (ie.myself and others, including a press photographer) get hassled by venue staff, more so than I recall at other "big" shows I've seen in Melbourne (eg. Art Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris)? Why didn't she play a second encore, when there was sufficient applause after the first encore to warrant it? Throughout the show she grinned whenever the lively crowd showed their appreciation, but was she grinning at their enthusiasm or the fact that she had sold out the venue two nights in a row? I don't have the answers to any of these questions but for someone who is supposedly so passionate about music, there was something in her performance that suggested she was just going through the motions. Has she streamlined the whole Kasey Chambers sideshow to the point that more time is being devoted to the business side of things than to the music itself? These aren't questions that have ever crossed my mind before so it's disappointing that upon leaving the venue tonight, these are the questions that came to my mind.

posted by david on Tue 24 Sep 2002 @ 10:57 PM | read or post comments (2)

I haven't been to all that many gigs lately so I guess it was a little odd that I wound up at a little charity night featuring female performers at Mayfields in Collingwood. There hadn't been any other Saturday night gigs to catch my attention so when two different friends mentioned this gig I said 'what the hell' and wandered along. Except for some unnecessary 'anti-men' comments by one of the organisers, it was an unassuming but fun night out, featuring an eclectic mix of performers simply doing what they do. The highlights for me were an ambitious solo a capella version of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" by one of the evening's vocalists (Sylvie Meltzer) and the rocking final act which I never caught the name of. Apparently they were high school students and while they looked a little uncertain on stage, they put on a fascinating set of songs from bands like 'Rage Against The Machine'. Their drummer seemed to be having a blast up the back and out front, their lead singer had the sort of presence that suggested she might yet make a living out of rock'n'roll.

see the rest...

posted by david on Tue 23 Jul 2002 @ 09:10 PM

The last time I saw Elvis Costello live was at the magnificent Royal Albert Hall in London doing his two-man show with keyboardist Steve Nieve. I came away from it thinking that bits were good but I'd rather see what he was like with a band. Seeing him with a band at one of his recent Melbourne shows, I found myself thinking the same thing: bits were good. His new album isn't doing a lot for me, perhaps because it feels like he's going through the motions and not really challenging himself. Hearing many of the new songs live didn't change my opinion of them much, as songs like "Alibi" still rely more on repetition than any genuinely worthwhile hook to be memorable. Having said that, he did give some of his back catalogue a thorough workout (eg. "Alison", "Watching The Detectives", a powerful "I Want You"), his new "soul" song did sound great and he played for a very healthy two and half hours. This was my first show at the Melbourne Concert Hall and while I had what seemed to be a good seat (5th row back from the stage) I was a little horrified by the sound mix, which seemed to reverberate around the hall so that I could hear every nuance of Steve Nieve's annoyingly persistent organ playing but I sometimes had trouble making out the riffing of Elvis' guitar, even when he was soloing.

Review: The Age

see the rest...

posted by david on Thu 18 Jul 2002 @ 09:31 PM

I predicted a certain amount of goopiness and instead we got a healthy helping of cheese. But that's okay, because Art Garfunkel has that voice. This show was a little theatrical in approach, whether it be his grand entrances through the curtain at the rear or his young son walking out in glossy suit to sing "Feelin' Groovy". We got a perfectly judged line in self-deprecation ("you didn't expect this much hair did you?") and we got both a lengthy drum solo <shudder> and some flashy banjo playing. The slightly cheesy feel of the presentation was carried through to the musical arrangements, which suffered a little because of the over-reliance on keyboards (featuring both piano and synthesiser) but only one guitar and no bass. The song selection featured material by Jimmy Webb and even Garfunkel himself but it was the Paul Simon songs that assumed the starring roles. The delicate melodies of songs like "American Tune" and "Scarborough Fair" were captivating but the undoubted highlight was the still-extraordinary "Bridge Over Troubled Water", dramatically rising to its familiar crescendo where his voice soared with both grace and power. Uplifting, breathtaking stuff.

Review: The Age

posted by david on Mon 20 May 2002 @ 09:39 PM

Irish singer-songwriter Andy White has never broken through to the general public in Australia but he's picked up a fairly loyal following around the world. Many people have been introduced to him through his involvement in the ALT project with Tim Finn (the 'T") and Liam O'Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers (the "L"). On his own, he has recorded a number of albums of lyrically buoyant songs which at times seem to be more vehicles for his words than seamless tunes. You might say he's a folky rap singer. But sometimes his songs really hit the mark, either with some phrase that delights or a deceptively catchy tune that you can't get out of your head. I first saw him live in London a couple of years ago at the wonderfully bizarre venue known as the 12 Bar Club and that time around, I was a little underwhelmed. On the other hand, his Friday night appearance at the Rosstown was completely disarming. His solo presentation had a certain charm to it, all enthusiasm and life and while it was interesting to hear solo versions of ALT songs like "We're All Men" it was his solo material that worked best, with the more subdued version of "Between A Man And A Woman" a particular highlight. Monique Brumby joined him for a few numbers while on other songs Andy accompanied himself, looping guitar riffs to play along to. Low key but satisfying entertainment.

see the rest...

posted by david on Tue 9 Apr 2002 @ 01:03 PM

One of my favourite gigs of 1999 was Steve Earle performing with the Del McCoury Band, complete with a surprise appearance from Emmylou Harris. Between that show and his recorded work, I'd call myself a fan of what he does. Unfortunately, I can't say I enjoyed this solo and acoustic show. It seemed rather dull. His presentation of his acoustic songs sounded much the same as the recorded versions. The rock songs sounded like rock songs in need of a rock band. He did little to engage his audience, giving us one amusing story after about five songs and then another in the encore, about an hour later. While his guitar playing is quite solid it wasn't enough to sustain my interest over the full show. His gruff vocal style doesn't allow a lot of room for fresh interpretations of songs. It all sounded perfectly respectable but if I'm going to fork out $45 for a performance, I'd like to think I'm going to be entertained. I don't know, maybe I need to be more of a fan to appreciate it properly but that's a lazy argument - I think a performer always needs to balance playing for the diehard fans and playing for newcomers, if only to ensure they keep challenging themselves. Considering his talents, this one never seemed like a challenge for Steve. Disappointing.

Photos: Cos's website
Review: The Age

posted by david on Tue 13 Nov 2001 @ 11:57 PM | read or post comments (1)

I know practically nothing about Charlie Marshall. I think he's the brother of Christopher Marshall (I don't know much about him either), he was in Harem Scarem with Christopher and these days he puts out albums through WMinc. I was invited along to the launch of Charlie's latest album 'Story Of Us' by Graham Lee (WMinc) and while I was vaguely curious about Charlie, I must admit I was particularly curious on whether my new digital camera was any good when snapping gig photos. In my eagerness to figure out all of the weird and wonderful controls on the camera, I somehow snapped 210 photos and didn't pay as much attention to the music as I should have. What I did hear sometimes reminded me of Not Drowning Waving and at other times was solid but melodic rock. I love rock with a sense of atmosphere and the opening number certainly had that. I left the gig a little intrigued by it all so I'm now trying to get a handle on the album.

see the rest...

posted by david on Wed 23 May 2001 @ 08:51 PM | read or post comments (1)

You don't know what you've got until you lose it. I've only been in Melbourne a year but as the news of Conti closing broke, I began to realise just how much I was going to miss it. I can only imagine the sense of loss felt by those who worked or played there, and if you wanted proof of just how much they loved the Conti, the final show provided bucketloads of it. Consider the huge lineup for the evening: 30 acts consisting of 80 performers, including Blackeyed Susans, Matt Walker, Paul Kelly, Renee Geyer, Stephen Cummings, Tiddas, Even, Vika & Linda, Rebeccas Empire, Mick Thomas, Deborah Conway, Jeff Lang, David Bridie and Mark Seymour. Consider the huge crowd that remained after five hours of single song sets. Consider the applause that greeted Mario's vicious condemnation of the landlord's behaviour. Or consider my final memory of the night, when the stagehand signalled for the final closure of the purple curtain by cutting his hand across his neck. As it slowly slid across, the Conti staff who had gathered near the stage quietly turned to each other, embraced and quietly began sobbing.

Links: The Age - Addicted To Noise - WMinc

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posted by david on Sun 20 May 2001 @ 08:55 PM

Any way you look at the Magnetic Fields' "69 Love Songs", it's an odd album. A sprawling 3-disc set of, yes, 69 love songs, it not so much defies easy categorisation as it laughs mockingly at the very thought of it. I have found it a difficult album to get into (where do you start?) so I was looking forward to this show in the hope it would help crystallise some of my thoughts on it. While I'm still not enamoured of the dry vocal technique of songwriter Stephin Merritt his songs are starting to get under my skin to the extent that I've found "The Luckiest Guy on The Lower East Side" bouncing around in my head ever since the gig. On stage I found the slower material too slow but the catchier pop songs were rendered with all their irresistible hooks intact, with "Oh Yeah" a particular highlight. Stephin's withdrawn stage manner didn't appear to engage the audience properly but his dry personality was balanced by the unbridled enthusiasm of pianist and vocalist Claudia Gonson. While unusual gigs such as this are what has made the Continental a treasured institution, I think the performers must have felt a little out of place given that this was the penultimate show at the venue. According to a piece in today's Age, the fate of the Continental itself remains uncertain.

see the rest...

posted by david on Sun 22 Apr 2001 @ 09:01 PM

I'm one of those who jumped on the Emmylou bandwagon when I heard "Wrecking Ball". While I've made scant progress in exploring her backcatalogue, I've happily bought each of her subsequent albums and with the opportunity to catch her live, I got myself a ticket to each of her two Melbourne shows. As expected, she didn't disappoint. The shows kicked off at 7:30pm with Buddy Miller playing a set (with Emmylou contributing rhythm guitar and backing vocals to a couple of song). Kasey Chambers then took the stage with her band and offered a wonderful showcase of what she can do - as a Kasey-ignoramus, I was dead impressed by "The Captain" particularly. There was then a short break before Emmylou hit the stage with her band Spyboy. While Kasey's music generally works from a country base, Emmylou's band seems more like an avant garde rock band, with Brady Blade grooving away behind his kit, Tony Hall bouncing out basslines and Buddy Miller throwing weird washes of guitar noise over the whole affair. Rising above it all was Emmylou's magical voice, equally comfortable in upbeat songs like "I Don't Walk About It Now" or when duetting with Buddy on the luscious "Love Hurts". It's like she aims at a note, pulls back but then hits it on the rebound. Kasey Chambers returned to the stage to contribute backing vocals for "My Baby Needs A Shepherd". The two shows were sufficiently different to justify attending both nights, as she played "Goodbye" and "Bang The Drum Slowly" on Friday and "All I Left Behind" and the stunning a capella "Calling My Children Home" on Saturday. After two hours on stage, it was all brought to a close with "The Maker", a wide open version of the Daniel Lanois tune that came complete with solo turns from Tony and Brady.

see the rest...

posted by david on Thu 22 Mar 2001 @ 09:04 PM

It wasn't group W, it was row W. There on my left were a young couple, content to quietly sit back and enjoy the show. And on my right was...um, a Dylanhead (there's probably a more formal name for them but that will do). When Bob stepped up to the mic, the Dylanhead applauded widly. When he stepped back, more applause. When he changed guitars, more applause. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating but I was having trouble matching Bob's actions with the subsequent applause and I'm sure there must have been some sort of link there. And don't get me started on the bizarre random bursts of air guitar (also seemingly unprompted). But all this is beside the point: was Bob any good? As a non-Dylanhead, I'd have to say yes, he was pretty good actually. Whether it was blues, country or straight-up rock, he and his band didn't put a foot wrong. New classics like "Lovesick" sat comfortably beside old classics like "Blowin' In The Wind". And the kickin' take on "All Along The Watchtower" had me grinning like a loon.

posted by david on Mon 19 Mar 2001 @ 09:05 PM

My friend Cos is a bit of a follower of Melbourne band The Blackeyed Susans and has been loaning me their various albums, one by one, trying to get me hooked. There's no question that they are a band with an impressive pedigree, formed from the ashes of The Triffids with David McComb once an occasional member and a current line-up featuring the unmistakeable vocals of Rob Snarski and the classy touch of electric guitarist Dan Luscombe. But for some reason, I can't make the jump from saying I admire what they do to saying I really like their stuff. So while I wait to "get it", I'll keep listening to the albums Cos loans me and every so often, catch them in a live setting like this one, the Rosstown Hotel in Carnegie, Melbourne.

see the rest...

posted by david on Sun 11 Mar 2001 @ 09:08 PM

When I first caught Tim Finn at the Continental last year, I was hugely underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I love what Tim does but the combination of his whole one-man-band thing (complete with foot-pedal drumming) and a dodgy soundmix was less than impressive. This time around Tim decided to employ a backing band: popmeisters Even. Whilst their take on powerpop perhaps swamped Tim's more delicate moments, rock-out takes of classic songs such as "I See Red" left the crowd hollering for more. As someone who was too young to experience Split Enz in their heyday, I saw glimpses of the manic fun that has since become part of the Enz legend. The only real disappointment of the evening was their refusal to return for a second encore when loudly demanded by the crowd.

see the rest...

posted by david on Tue 13 Feb 2001 @ 10:21 PM

If anything, Deborah Conway should be one of the "in" acts of the moment - the combination of her pop sensibilities with a band that know how to rock is hardly an alien mix for modern ears to deal with. But for some reason radio is disinterested and Deborah is stuck promoting the songs from "Exquisite Stereo" on the live stage. This time it was another of the free "Summertime Rocks" gigs on the lawn of the Arts Centre and while perhaps the crowd didn't know what to make of songs like "Exquisite Stereo" or the jazz-styled "Bag of Sweets", they were at least left with the oh-so-funky fun of "It's Only The Beginning" (the dance version).

see the rest...

posted by david on Sun 11 Feb 2001 @ 10:22 PM

On Thursday evening I caught Richard Thompson playing a solo gig here in Melbourne. While there's no questioning his abilities as a guitarist and a songwriter, I think the venue effectively denied him the opportunity to properly engage with his audience. Sure, he played the songs we wanted to hear, he played guitar like only he can (how does he do that simultaneous soloing and rhythm stuff?) but the Melbourne Concert Hall isn't what you would call an intimate venue. Some amusing little ditties about Madonna and Kenny G helped lighten the mood but there was no escaping the fact that this was one man with a very big stage to fill. update: someone from The Age offers a different opinion.

posted by david on Sun 7 Jan 2001 @ 10:26 PM | read or post comments (6)

James Reyne gigs draw a funny crowd. Most turn up anticipating some classic Aussie rock with songs like "Errol" and "Reckless" from his days with Australian Crawl or perhaps "Fall Of Rome" and "Hammerhead" from his cracking solo debut. But to anyone who's tried a few of his other solo albums, it's obvious that James has broader ambitions as a songwriter and musician (I swear his cover of John Hiatt's "Stood Up" from "Electric Digger Dandy" is better than the original). This gig featured James on guitar/vocals accompanied by Mark O'Connor on piano and while some of his newer material works beautifully with that instrumentation, the crowd seemed more interested in full-on singalongs to the old classics. Sure, that was a lot of fun, but maybe one day they'll let him show off what he can really do.

see the rest...

posted by david on Mon 11 Dec 2000 @ 09:06 PM

If Australia had a Emmylou Harris, she'd probably be Renee Geyer. Held in high regard by musicians, critics and music lovers (but mostly ignored by the general public), she inspires folks like Paul Kelly to write songs especially for her. I've had limited exposure to her work so I figured it was time to see her in action when she played a Sunday afternoon gig on the Arts Centre lawn in Melbourne. 'Twas very classy stuff indeed. This was another of the continuing series of free "Summertime Rocks" gigs on the lawn, which have so far seen Mental As Anything, Blackeyed Susans and Vika & Linda with future Sundays scheduled to see appearances by Icecream Hands, Chris Wilson, Mark Seymour and Deborah Conway.

see the rest...

posted by david on Mon 27 Nov 2000 @ 07:09 PM

Singer/songwriter Lloyd Cole was here in Melbourne last week as part of a low-key Australian tour. I know some of his fans moved heaven and earth (and honeymoons) to get to a gig and from what I've heard some weren't disappointed but others were. One fan has described it as the best show of the year, another said it was woeful. Anyway, he got some good mainstream press from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Apparently his new album is out but only as a European release.

posted by david on Sat 7 Oct 2000 @ 08:03 PM

When his songs have been sung by people like Sinatra, Streisand, Cocker, Garfunkel and Cash, it's probably fair to say that Jimmy Webb has few peers in the field of songwriting. Looking beyond that, he is a surprisingly powerful and wonderfully expressive singer. As a pianist he is simply formidable. Of course, the best way to appreciate all of this is to catch a Webb live performance. The first night of his 3-night stand at Melbourne's Continental Cafe had the crowd begging for more (I lost count of the encores). I wasn't familiar with all of the material (hey, all I've got is "Ten Easy Pieces") but there was no question this was one very classy gig. update: Brian Wise of Addicted To Noise has written a review of one of the shows. Yes, that's one of my photos.

see the rest...

posted by david on Sat 23 Sep 2000 @ 08:22 PM

Over the past few months I've caught both Rebecca Barnard and Deborah Conway at various gigs so when I saw they were doing a few gigs together, I just had to catch one. As it turned out they're a great match: they're both more than capable pop songwriters, they're impressive vocalists and they've got the whole between-songs-banter thing all sussed out. The oddest thing about the gig was the venue, Frankston Cultural Centre, a hefty 32km trek from home to a rather formal auditorium complete with torch-bearing ushers and a stage better suited to theatre productions than intimate singer/songwriter gigs. Highlights included acoustic re-workings of the Do Re Mi hit "Man Overboard" and Talking Heads' "Road To Nowhere", the latter complete with a capella intro. Unfortunately, the absence of her band meant Deborah could only give us an acoustic version of "It's Only The Beginning" instead of the oh-so-funky dance version I saw a couple of months ago.

see the rest...

posted by david on Wed 6 Sep 2000 @ 08:36 PM

The folks at WMinc Productions invited me to another gig and this time it was a schmooze-type thing for the new Go Betweens album. Looking around the room I spotted folks like Dave Graney and Rob Snarski (Blackeyed Susans) and I must admit I sorta felt like a duck out of water. Anyway, this version of the Go Betweens was a three-piece, with Grant McLennan on guitar/vocals, Adele Pickvance on bass and Robert Forster on guitar. It was a fairly straightforward affair, with a number of new songs plus some old favourites (eg. "Cattle and Cane", "Streets of Your Town"). Robert was feeling a little under the weather so he avoided vocal duties to such an extent that the new song "He Lives My Life" was done as an instrumental (!). File this gig under "short but sweet". A big thank you to Graham and Steve for the invite.

see the rest...

posted by david on Mon 4 Sep 2000 @ 08:39 PM | read or post comments (1)

Last week Graham Lee of record label WMinc Productions invited me along to the album launch of "Soul Witness" by guitarist/singer/songwriter Matt Walker. I'd never heard any of Matt's stuff before but I came away impressed by the whole shebang. Matt certainly seems to know his way around whatever guitar he happens to pick up and with Ashley Davies on drums behind him, there's no denying there's some sort of magic in their partnership. Throw in jazz-pianist Chris Abrahams and bassist Ken Gormly (Cruel Sea) and you've got quite a gig. The appearance of Dave Graney and Clare Moore was an unnecessary bonus. Now all I have to do is track down Matt's albums so I can complete my education...

see the rest...

posted by david on Sun 6 Aug 2000 @ 03:39 AM

Last night I went to yet another gig but, well, it wasn't really just another gig because this was Midnight Oil. There were two special moments for me. The first came at the start, when the lights first dimmed and some shadows moved onto the stage. The atmosphere of the crowd was different to the usual gig - they knew all too well that something special was about to happen. The second moment came soon after they had left the stage for the final time: I realised that the Oils are perhaps the only essential Australian rock band. It's no secret they are the conscience of Aussie rock but anyone who has seen them live also knows they play as eloquently as they speak. Their new album "The Real Thing" features a few new tracks and "unplugged" versions of some old classics. Get it. Hearing the Chris Abrahams piano accompaniment on "In The Valley" is worth the price alone.