The National - Accor Super Theatre

 

The National

Super Aware Theatre

1 March 2024

 

 

Getting a souvenir from a concert is always special. Usually, you have to buy a t shirt. Sometimes, if you’re really lucky, you can get a guitar pick, and if you come away with something like a setlist, you’ve done very well indeed! But sometimes you get even more than that.

 

I like to think of The National as a bit like the cooler friends you had at uni who formed a band and played at parties. The difference is, unlike your friends, the National can actually play and write music brilliantly. It was the kind of show that you might expect at a uni bar but writ large. There wasn’t a fancy light show and there were no costume changes. But the band was loose and happy to be on stage. 

 

When they were starting out, Michael Stipe from REM told the National in order to have a long career they either needed to have lots of hits, or none at all. They choose the latter option. But for a band with no hits, they’ve certainly got a lot of great songs. They’ve had a 20 year career and the show touches on every point in it. From their early successes to tracks from the two albums released last year, the setlist features songs from throughout their catalogue. A sign of how they’ve maintained their quality control is that the newer songs more than hold their own against the early classics. They don’t rely on their biggest albums to fill their set.

 

In the middle of the show, I remember thinking that this is what all rock bands should sound like. They were powerful. They rocked hard. But they also had a light melodic touch and they were engaging performers.

 

Lead singer Matt Berninger went into the crowd at a number of points in the show and the excitement level in the crowd certainly went up a notch. It was a great way to make an immediate connection with the audience. He didn’t rely on a wireless microphone. He must have the longest microphone lead in the music business. He walked 100 metres into the crowd and having this physical link to the stage somehow made this adventure even more compelling.  A side note is that his microphone roadie must be the hardest working person in showbusiness. How no one got injured is a miracle.

 

It was one of the things that reminded me of when you saw small indie bands playing in tiny venues. The lead singer goes into the crowd to get your attention. Tick. The guitarists stand at opposite sides of the stage and try to ‘out rock’ each other. Tick. The lead singer gives away his shoes at the end of the gig? Tick. The rhythm section stays mostly in the background, but still look effortlessly cool. Tick. Wait… The lead singer gave away his shoes? Yes, that’s true. That’s a cool souvenir! That’s hard to beat! But someone even went home with the mic stand.

 

It was that kind of gig!

Taylor Swift - Accor Stadium Sydney

 

Taylor Swift

Accor Stadium

26 February 2024

 

 

 

There’s nothing that irritates me more than when old white men (yes, I know…) dismiss Taylor Swift. The secret to Taylor Swift’s success is simple really. She’s got great songs. And she got a lot of them. For my money she’s the best songwriter to emerge this century and one of the best of all time. Don’t take my word for it though, no less a songwriter than Paul McCartney (a man who knows his way around a song) rates her highly and has even said that he’s been inspired by her work. Case closed.

 

Actually, there is one thing that irritates me more than people dismissing Taylor Swift. It’s people dismissing her fans. Like they’re too young or too female to know good music. Not only is that factually incorrect, but let me tell you that the kids know exactly what is good music They are the first generation that has access to the entire history of music at their fingertips. If they like a band from, say, the 70s they’ll listen to them. But they don’t. They listen to Taylor Swift and the reason is simple. I’ve already said it, but she writes great songs that connect with them.

 

The show itself is incredible. Did I mention her songs? She’s got a lot of them and by now we all know she’s playing them as mini sets that represent all of the eras of her career.  Each of these mini sets is more impressive than the previous one. She starts with Lover, and the reaction is instant. It might not even be her best set of songs, but there’s something about being in the presence of a master that you can’t help but get swept along with. It’s a bit like Beatlemania. We all know how hard it was getting tickets to this show and how lucky we are to be there. In that first set of hers, it hits home! We’re in the room. And she’s right in front of us. All those hours in the Ticketek queue were worth it!

 

Her early country years are covered with Fearless and Speak Now, both showing her musical prowess. I’m not sure it needs to be said, but she’s a great musician and she’s got a great band on stage. Yes, that comment is for the old white guys reading.

 

In her indie years (Folklore and Evermore) she turned her not inconsiderable song writing talents to story songs, rather than personal confessionals. Both of these sets were a definite highlight and also illustrate that the tour works because each of the Eras has a different vibe to the others.  She’s got lots of distinct periods and she covers them all.

 

The best mini set might have been when she plays Reputation. I don’t think it’s my favourite album of hers, but the production and song choices were a real highlight. They took things up a level. That is, until she did the Red set. That took it up another level again. Amazing!  1989’s pop gems turned the stadium into a huge party and then she tied the whole show together with her Midnights set. Each set outdoing the previous one. It was incredible.

 

Let’s be honest, in my time I’ve seen more than my fair share of artists. The Eras Tour was easily one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. Taylor Swift was as good, or better, than most of the artists I’ve seen. Yes, even the ones revered by those old white men that dismiss her.

Simple Minds - Sydney Opera House

 

Simple Minds 2024

Sydney Opera House

8 February 2024

 

“Stick with me kid, and we’ll play there”. 

 

These are the words that Jim Kerr said to Charlie Burchill, pointing to the Sydney Opera House, on the night they first arrived in Sydney from Glasgow in 1981.

 

It took 43 years, but they finally did it. Ever since then, it has been a mutual love affair. Australia have taken the band to heart and the band clearly love being here. There’s a warmth to the stage banter that is impossible to fake. If we have learned anything in the last few years, it’s not to take anything for granted. The band certainly didn’t.

 

The gig felt a bit like a victory lap.

 

For a band that have had a 40-year career they did a remarkable job of covering all the bases. It’s no secret that I think the early years of Simple Minds were when they were actually cool. Hard to believe I know. But songs such as Love Song, I Travel, Themes For Great Cities are all early art rock classics. They remind us what an innovative and experimental band they were.

 

Then, Simple Minds became a bit like U2 (not necessarily a compliment) and their catalogue started to fill up with stadium anthems, Alive and Kicking, Sanctify Yourself and Don’t You Forget About Me. Without them, you doubt they’d still have a career 40 years later, and everyone was very happy to hear them.

 

Then there’s the undisputed classic album New Gold Dream. The band are no fools, so about half of this album makes the set. A great decision as these songs were all highlights. How can you go past the timeless title track, or Promised You a Miracle or Someone, Somewhere in Summertime?  

 

There are a few songs from the 90s (not a particularly fertile period for the band) and, of course, they throw in a couple of new songs. They’re not bad. They show that there’s still life in the band and while not reaching the heights of the classics, show they’re still a creative force. 

 

They must have played every other venue in the city, from the smallest bars, to the Entertainment Centre and everywhere else in between. But when they got their chance at one of the most prestigious venues in the world, they did themselves proud.  

Gracie Abrams - Fortitude Music Hall - Brisbane

 

Gracie Abrams

Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane

16 January 2024

It was like being let in on a secret. I was clearly a fish out of water. Gracie Abrams’ audience is almost entirely teenage or young adult females. What was I doing there? The answer is, quite obviously, that I was a “plus one” for my daughter. With that, you would probably expect that my review would be filled with grudging acceptance – phrases like “she gives her audience what they want” or “she’s got simple pop melodies” with a barely hidden contempt that this is somehow lesser music because of her audience. But you won’t find that here.

 

The best part of a gig - any gig - is the communal experience. There is nothing better than screaming out your favourite lyrics in a room full of like-minded strangers. From the first note, you couldn’t help but get swept along with the crowd. Everyone knowing all the words and feeling like you were with “your people” is an emotion that is almost impossible to replicate.

 

Gracie Abrams has grown up with her audience and it shows. She speaks to them, uses the same language as them, looks out for them. It’s a feeling that is repaid by the audience. It was a mutual admiration society. 

 

Her show was tight, but it was also flexible and loose. Slick but not soulless. The special moments were the ones that went off script. One of these was when the audience got her to sing a song called In Between by yelling out a request. This was an unreleased song that somehow they had unearthed (thanks to the internet). She said that she only remembered the second verse and chorus, so that’s what she played.

 

Then she also played another song she wrote when she was 13. Her mum said that she should record the song properly and the reaction of the Brisbane crowd was, I think, the deciding factor. “I have to record that one now… you guys are the ones that helped me decide”. That’s a direct quote. The audience, of course, loved that!

 

She also played a new song from her third (yet to be released) album called Cedar. She couldn’t quite remember how that one went. But that was part of the charm. It was a really intimate moment.

 

She stopped the concert a few times to help audience members who had passed out and handled the whole situation with care and attention. That seems to sum her up for me. Lots of artists say that they love their audience, but you could tell that what she was saying was coming from her heart. From her soul. The same place her songs come from.

 

All of this might have stopped the momentum for another artist, it could have taken the wind out of their sails. But she handled it all with the grace (sorry) of someone with years of experience. She knew exactly what she needed to do – she turned to her band and said “let’s play Mess It Up”. A fan favourite that she saves for special occasions. It was a masterstroke. She had us back in the palm of her hand. Yes, even me. I was no longer a fish out of water.

Paul McCartney - Allianz Stadium - Sydney

 

Paul McCartney

Allianz Stadium – Sydney

27 October 2023

 

 

 

You forget.

 

You really do.

 

You forget how many great songs Paul McCartney has written.

 

But don’t worry. He reminds you how many songs he has written during the night. He doesn’t just give you hits (although you get plenty of those – Sgt Peppers, Can’t Buy Me Love, Jet, Band On The Run… I could go on …) he also gives you a selection of songs throughout his long and varied career.

 

It would have been easy to just play a bunch of Beatles songs and a bunch of Wings songs, but he does more than that. What you do get is a proper band playing a set with ebbs and flows. He says that he can tell when we like a song because all our phones come out and it looks like he’s playing to a galaxy of stars. But when he plays a new one it’s like playing into a black hole. He sort of jokes, that he doesn’t care because he’s going to play the new ones anyway. Who is complaining? One of the best songwriters of the 20^th century can basically do no wrong. He has written so many great songs in so many different styles that even his new songs are still better than most other artists hits.

 

You also forget how long he’s been doing this. He started the Beatles with John Lennon when he was 15 (which was 65 years ago). So, he knows what he is doing. He knows how to hold a crowd. 

 

High points? There are so many. The encore opened with a virtual duet of I’ve Got A Feeling between him and John. That’s the closet most of us will ever get to see the Beatles perform. Just hearing their voices together was an emotional moment.

 

Hey Jude was a communal experience. The song is potentially dulled by familiarity, but it lost none of its power when sung with a chorus of 40,000 people. It felt as fresh as the day it was written. Magical.

 

Get Back was another highlight. The documentary of the making of the Let it Be album “Get Back” might actually be the best music film of all time. Seeing Paul McCartney seemingly create the song out of thin air right before your eyes is a literal jaw dropping moment. A whole essay could be written about that one scene. So, to see it performed live was incredible. 

 

And then there was the tribute to George Harrison with Something or there was Jet… or Maybe I’m Amazed… or Blackbird… or…, well, you get the idea.

 

The set ends with the 3 song suite from Abbey Road and you’re reminded “oh yeah, I forgot he wrote those too”. They might not be as high profile as some of the other songs in his catalogue, but they’re all great. Isn’t everything?

 

I’m left with one final thought. After we’re all long gone and forgotten, Paul McCartney and his songs, definitely won’t be. 

The Chicks - Qudos Bank Arena

 

 

 

 

 

The Chicks 

Qudos Bank Arena

19 October 2023

 

It’s a human thing.

 

As you get older you become the sum of your experiences. Some good. Some not.

 

It’s fair to say that the Chicks have had their fair share of both. In 1998 they sold more CDs than all the other country acts combined. By July 2000 they had become the best-selling all-woman band and best-selling country group in the US. They were on top of the world. But the fall was swift and brutal. They were cancelled before being cancelled was even a thing. Bad mouthing a president seems quaint now (and it’s amazing thinking that Dubya isn’t the worst President the US has had by a long shot… imagine telling us that in 2003… but I digress). But in 2003 it was a scandal. Radio stopped playing their songs, people burned their CDs. Then came the death threats.

 

This is all documented in probably the best music film I’ve ever seen (Shut Up and Sing) and I think their response to being cancelled and their attitude afterwards makes them, in my eyes, the most hardcore punk rock band in the entire world. They don’t take shit from anyone anymore.

 

In addition to all of that, Natalie Maines went through a divorce so scarring that the details are suppressed by court. That doesn’t matter though. All is revealed in her songs.

 

A silver lining to being cancelled is that if you get through it, you don’t have to care what anyone else thinks about you.

 

It’s freeing. Liberating. 

 

The concert was filled with songs from the Chicks newest album and tell a tale of heartbreak, betrayal, revenge, rage and love. Pretty much the full range of emotions.

 

Their rage was not just limited to songs of personal heartbreak. Tackling topics that might have once been taboo, especially to their mostly conservative audience (Black Lives Matter, Gun Control, Abortion Rights), they now have no fear in bringing these topics up in songs like March March and Gaslighter. They’re on the right side of history. 

 

That sums up the band to me. They are fearless.

 

Not only are the Chicks old school entertainers – you can tell they cut their teeth getting the attention of rooms that didn’t want to know them – they give their audience exactly what they want. But they do more than that. They let you into their world.

 

They reveal themselves to you.

 

They show you their scars.

 

They haven’t come through all of this unscathed. But that’s OK. That just makes them human. 

Candlelight Concert - Taylor Swift - NGA