| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2250 Registered: 05-2005 |
Who's going? I'm going both nights, table 1 first night and table 2 the second night (I purposely varied it in case table 2 has a slightly better view!). On Friday I will be heading to the Opera House after work. Anyone going want to meet up and have a beer somewhere beforehand? | ||
| David Unregistered guest |
I'll be going tonight. I'm on the table in the back row but in the middle. How would the view be if you happened to have a seat facing backwards? | ||
| Roger Griffin Member Username: Roger Post Number: 52 Registered: 11-2004 |
Just got back. Great gig. Anyone who doesn't have Saturday tickets should try to get some. Robert's in great form! He introduced Adele by quoting Grant: "she is the Duchess of the Deep End" I was at the table in front of Glenn. Really good varied setlist which I won't list yet. Pics to be posted soon... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2262 Registered: 05-2005 |
You were on the table beside me then Roger! I was on D, the guy with the glasses taking notes on legal paper! | ||
| grant Unregistered guest |
i have 2 front row tkt tonight - I cant go as just had our first baby girl - any one want them for face value ? Will need to be collected from me in Bronte...... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2267 Registered: 05-2005 |
Robert Forster, Sydney Opera House, 29 August 2008 Robert acoustic Something For Myself Spirit Love Is A Sign From Ghost Town First band set If It Rains When She Sang About Angels The Evangelist Demon Days I’m Allright Second band set Too Much Of One Thing Clouds Born To A Family Head Full Of Steam Pandanus Surfing Magazines Quiet Heart Make Her Day German Farmhouse Darlinghurst Nights Did She Overtake You? Spring Rain Here Comes A City First encore He Lives My Life Heart Out To Tender Second encore I Can Do 121 Third encore People Say | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2269 Registered: 05-2005 |
Robert Forster, Sydney Opera House Studio, 29 August 2008 Robert came out on his own around 8.20 and picked up his acoustic. Quite a few people had still not arrived; there was no-one but us at our front row table until a few songs in. People used to the moveable feast of rock venue show times were seemingly unprepared for the Opera House’s “It starts at the time the ticket says it’s going to start” policy. The opener was a surprise. At first I thought it was a new song, but the lyrics sounded familiar. It was Something For Myself from Bright Yellow, Bright Orange and it sounded great. Throw ‘em a curveball to start with and they’re sure to sit up and take notice. It was followed by Spirit and then the night’s first spine tingling moment, Love Is A Sign. John Willsteed’s intricate guitar flourishes were missing of course, but this was beautiful regardless. And then came From Ghost Town. Robert looked very affected as he was singing it. So was everyone hearing it. God it was wonderful. He said afterwards it was the first time he’d played it live. He’d wanted to play it, been looking for a place to play, but tonight was the first time. Maybe the ambience of the Opera House brought it out. None of the acoustic songs were listed on the set list I took after the show, so maybe Robert doesn’t decide what to play until he’s out there. Adele joined him on stand up bass for a powerful version of If It Rains. Then Glenn came on and, before When She Sang About Angels, Robert told a hilarious story of how he got to see Patti Smith in a London art gallery in 1996. I’ve heard the story before, but this was a fuller version, the 12” remix. I’ve never much liked this song, probably because I’m not much of a Patti Smith fan, but tonight it was terrific. The Evangelist was fantastic, even better than the album version. At this point, seven songs in, the line up is completed when young Matthew steps behind the drum kit. Adele had put on her bass but Robert asked her to play the stand up bass for what followed. It was Demon Days and it was superb. Good call Robert! During I’m Allright Robert was keeping time with his feet like an old blues man. I could almost hear the absent cor anglais. It was still great without it. At this point there was a short break. The Opera House bell rang after 10 minutes to remind people to go back in. All very civilised. Never mind the bollocks of rock venues, all gigs should be so polite. The second set started with Too Much Of One Thing. I’ve loved this song since I first heard it, and tonight’s performance was worthy of The Band in The Last Waltz. I’m convinced he said “thang” at one point. Robert then said a curious thang. Who knows, it might even be true. He said the last time he was in the Opera House was two years ago to see Nana Mouskouri. “I’m channelling Nana tonight,” he said. But Clouds sounded more southern US than southern Europe. He once told me he likes George Jones. Now I can hear it. Born To A Family was introduced as “my life story in a three minute pop song. Robert Forster, the early years”. He strapped on the Stat for the first time tonight and promptly had trouble with the capo (I think that’s the technical term). Punk rock! Head Full Of Steam was brilliant, with great backing vocals from Adele and Glenn. Pandanus featured an awesome mini solo by Robert and, upon hearing the opening chords of Surfing Magazines I turned around to the guy behind me who’d been shouting for it all night and said “There you go”. (My hope that this might shut him and his noisy cohorts up was forlorn though). It took a while for me to warm to Surfing Magazines after it was first released, but I’ve loved it a long time now, not least because Robert so obviously loves it. Tonight it somehow took me by surprise how Go-Betweens it sounded, particularly Glenn’s guitar. How Grant it sounded I suppose. Quiet Heart was not introduced, it was just played and hit straight to the solar plexus when I realised what it was. The line “our dream won’t die” was incredibly poignant and moving. Grown men crying. On Make Her Day Robert was really concentrating on the guitar before the vocals. Matthew was really enjoying himself on the drums, as he was throughout. German Farmhouse now sounds like a lost Talking Heads song to me. Maybe it always sounded that way, but this is another one it took a while for me to warm too. Robert was back on the acoustic for Darlinghurst Nights. I’ve loved this song from the get go and tonight it was just brilliant. Did She Overtake You was, again, even better than the album version. Spring Rain, which was not listed on the set list, has gone from being a pop classic to a country pop classic based on tonight’s version, aided and abetted by the backing vocals and Glenn’s guitar. The last action of the second set was Here Comes A City, a song I’ve still not warmed to and can’t imagine I ever will. Kraftwerk wrote the definitive song about traversing Europe by train as far as I’m concerned. The first encore featured He Lives My Life and a superb take on Heart Out To Tender which saw Adele shaking what looked and sounded like an egg with pebbles in it. The drums were great on it and Glenn played Dylan-like keyboards. I’d never noticed before how Dylan-like the whole song is. It was great. At one point Robert played Glenn’s keyboard with his elbow! In the second encore Glen played drums on I Can Do. Was bass always the lead instrument on this? It certainly is now. Matthew came back on and Robert said “In my opinion this is the most beautiful band currently on the Australian stage”. After introducing Adele by saying Grant McLennan called her “the duchess of the deep end”, she played bass on 121 as if she was Phil Lynott. (A beautiful thing in my view by the way!). The third, and final, encore saw Adele on keys and Glenn on bass an awesome version of People Say. It was followed by a much deserved standing ovation. This was the best Robert solo show I’ve seen outside of the four ages of Robert Forster shows in Brisbane last year. Can’t wait for Opera House part two! | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 93 Registered: 10-2006 |
...thanks Padraig,you captured the feel of what this man and his talented band are all about...entertainment plus, meaningful, heartfelt and gutsy. Challenge the boundaries and we are the Boundary Riders... | ||
| Svein Inge Saether Member Username: Springrain Post Number: 45 Registered: 08-2006 |
Thanks for the great review, Padraig. That set list is absolutely amazing, can't wait for the Germay shows! | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 351 Registered: 04-2005 |
Thanks a lot Padraig for that detailed account. Evidently I have to try and get to a gig even there appears to be nothing within several hundred miles of me... > egg with pebbles = a "chicken shaker" (sure that is not the actual technical term, but what I know it as) | ||
| David Tang Member Username: Ddtng Post Number: 1 Registered: 08-2008 |
Padraig, I was sitting with them all night (the ones who wanted Surfing Magazines). They were certainly noisy but not as rowdy as they could've been. I was dearly hanging out for Draining the Pool for You but not to be. A bit down that the focus is no longer on older material now, but what was played was certainly fantastic. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1211 Registered: 08-2006 |
Thanks for the write-up, Padraig. Sounded like a hell of a gig. Makes me even more sad Robert doesn't appear to be Chicago-bound. | ||
| Roger Griffin Member Username: Roger Post Number: 53 Registered: 11-2004 |
Thanks Padraig for that detailed and well rounded review. I'm with you on pretty much every point, including grown men crying (I admit, I teared up) and I think I remember you saying "there you go" to the how-about-some-surf guy. Do you think maybe Robert brought it forward to get it out of the way? David, you should have called out for Draining the Pool - it gets results. Standouts: Headfull, Darlinghurst, Evangelist, 121 (McCormack was in the audience - a guest lead spot on this would have been cool) and German Farmhouse was the magnificent rockout it will always be. | ||
| David Tang Member Username: Ddtng Post Number: 2 Registered: 08-2008 |
Oh well, it was my first Go-Betweens related gig and I didn't think I was in a position to be yelling frantically. I got all my other favourites though so very, very pleased. Haven't been a fan of his solo material much but after hearing 121 and Heart Out to Tender I might give it a revisit. | ||
| David Tang Member Username: Ddtng Post Number: 3 Registered: 08-2008 |
It's only taken me to now to realise that Robert played Quiet Heart. During the performance itself the fact that it was a Grant song totally glossed over me, Robert dealt with it so perfectly. | ||
| Todd Slater Unregistered guest |
I was umming & aahing all week about going (I don't know why). Bought a ticket at 6pm last night & went. After being front row last time Robert & Grant played Sydney for the Sydney Festival show in January 06, it was refreshing to sit back (on the 1st mezzanine level) & drink in the pure elegance of the show. Seeing Robert perform last night, was like drinking a favoured wine from a once in a lifetime vintage. And the bottle was in superb condition. The new songs sounded great, powerful, resonant & moving - especially the acoutisic trio at the top of the set. Pandanus caught me by surprise - couched next to Surfing Magazines in the set, it made me think of how much Robert loves 70's Australian Surfing culture. Another link is the cover shot for Calling from a Country Phone taken at dawn on Bribie Island (just north of Brisbane). The utter freshness of the older songs was astounding. Head Full of Steam, was like opening the blinds at dawn, all freshness & light & an energy that positively sparkled, ditto for Spring Rain. I was half expecting Glenn to pull into a little boogie woogie piano at the start of the wonderful 121 but not to be. Heart out to Tender just crackled along like the 'Sunlander' enroute to Cairns. Sadly no People Say to finish with, but I'm not complaining. Adele just gets better & better - the Duchess of the Deep End indeed !! Glenn has to be one of the most accomplished & underrated players in the country & Matthew on the kit - half his luck. I thought he was terrific & it was great to see Robert deffering to him to count them in on several songs. I must admit to often wondering what it would be like to have Jim White from the Dirty Three behind the kit for one the their gigs though !! Overall the set was a reminder of just what a rich & potent bag of songs & what a master Robert is. It's just so great to see him performing again. Like the wine the aftertaste goes on forever. Superlative. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2270 Registered: 05-2005 |
Review of second night. Robert Forster, Sydney Opera House Studio, 30 August 2008 Tonight there were three of us – we took our six year old daughter too. It was her first ever concert and she was pretty excited. It was also way past her bed time... The set was almost the exact same as the night before, though there was no third encore and they did play one surprise, which I’ll get to later. There were some subtle differences though. We were at a front row table, right in front of Robert. He seemed a bit more formal tonight at first. From Ghost Town, the fourth and last song in the solo acoustic set, was even more affecting than last night’s version for me. After The Evangelist, Robert asked “Where’s the little girl?” I said she was gone outside with her mum because she was feeling a bit sick. “Too excited,” I said. “I can understand,” he replied, deadpan. “Nice and slow,” Robert then said to drummer Matthew Harrison as he gently counted in Demon Days with “1,2,3, 1,2,3”. On I’m Allright - more funky and fluid than the previous night’s take - Glenn’s keyboard substituted for the cor anglais part and I realised that’s what I heard last night, not the imagined wind instrument I “almost heard”! Pandanus’ perfect “bop, bop,bop” backing vocals by Adele and Glenn made it the poptastic highlight of the night for me. Robert had introduced it as “going out to the Sunshine Coast”. Manly got a mention in Surfing Magazines, which pleased me as I’d suggested it the previous night (we live near there) when he lamented not mentioning any Sydney beaches during it! Matthew played the cymbals to sound like crashing waves during it, of course. While putting on a harmonica Robert banged the guitar into his microphone. This prompted him to tell us about his new automatic tuner, which was going to save the day. After a quick tune up he said “Perfect, the harmonica’s out but the guitar’s in”. The version of Grant’s Quiet Heart that followed gave me a lump in my throat, a shiver down my spine and a tear in my eye. “How I miss your quiet, quiet, quiet heart.” There was something very powerful in how Robert emphasised “heart”. Just beautiful. Before Darlinghurst Years Robert said it was set in 1983. “August 3rd; 3.30.” I realised halfway through this intro that he was addressing it directly to me taking notes right in front of him. The audience laughed. I laughed. I felt a bit sheepish afterwards though. Glenn did a few Chuck Berry-style guitar lines during Spring Rain, which also featured a brief three part a capella harmony. Forget what I wrote about Here Comes A City last night; the song has finally grown on me. I get it now and loved how it speeded up like an express train just before the climax. It was great. Robert played some lovely, delicate acoustic guitar in the intro of He Lives My Life in the first encore. It was followed by a version of Heart Out To Tender which was wilder and more mercurial than even last night’s was. He sang it like a big tent preacher casting out demons. His voice was echoed on a delay which made him sound like he was speaking in tongues. It was extraordinary. Speaking of Talking Heads... Someone had shouted out for Psycho Killer on several occasions. They had played it in Brisbane last year, but I wasn’t expecting it tonight. Neither, apparently, was Adele! “I wish I could,” she said to Robert when he indicated they were going to do it. She could when Robert did a perfect take on the guitar intro and she picked up the beat. We only got about a minute of it before they stopped and Robert said “This one’s just as good”. Appropriately, it was I Can Do. The final song of the night was 121. Robert was playing some lovely jazzy chords on it but then stopped and said he couldn’t be bothered. It was funny, honestly! Overall, for me the second night was better than the first. It was special to take our daughter to see and hear music I love for her first concert. After coming back in she saw some more of the show from the balcony before falling asleep in her mum’s lap, exhausted from the excitement and lateness of it all. Full set list: Robert acoustic Something For Myself Spirit Love Is A Sign From Ghost Town First band set If It Rains When She Sang About Angels The Evangelist Demon Days I’m Allright Second band set Too Much Of One Thing Clouds Born To A Family Head Full Of Steam Pandanus Surfing Magazines Quiet Heart Make Her Day German Farmhouse Darlinghurst Nights Did She Overtake You? Spring Rain Here Comes A City First encore He Lives My Life Heart Out To Tender Second encore Psycho Killer I Can Do 121 | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 477 Registered: 05-2005 |
Two great reviews Pádraig. Only problem, it's going to make the three weeks wait for my turn go by even slower... | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 183 Registered: 05-2005 |
I was at the Saturday night show by Robert at the Opera House and it was magnificent. Everything about the show was perfect - the venue, the sound, the attentive and appreciative audience, and the wonderful performance by Robert and the band. I loved every song. But particular highlights were a stunning version of Head Full of Steam and a stonking Here Comes a City to close out the main set (glad to you've come round to that one Padraig!). I was really moved by the lovely versions of Demon Days, Quite Heart and From Ghost Town - each performance felt like a beautifully understated tribute to Grant. And what a fantastic band. I'm so glad that Robert has continued to work with Adele and Glenn. Glenn was a real revelation on guitar and keyboards. Close your eyes and it could have been Grant doing the jangly guitar parts on Head Full of Steam. His organ jamming towards the end of Heart Out to Tender was another musical highlight. And I just can't say enough about the lovely Adele Pickvance. She really has become one of my favourite bass players ever. A terrific combination of precision and feel. She's also a great backing singer. You guys in Europe and the States are in for a real treat. | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 94 Registered: 10-2006 |
..fantastic feel in the reviews given, I too, Padraig are now content that 'Here Comes the City' has come into play for you...I have loved the track since hearing it for the first time on the London live set 'Live at the Budekan'(hope the spelling is ok)... Mark L you are so right, watch out for this in Europe and the States, the chandeliers will be swaying along with all the stripes that colour the life of a Go Between fan, now in the safe and assuring hands of Robert, Adele, Glenn and young Matthew.. | ||
| a vromen Member Username: Audrey Post Number: 3 Registered: 01-2006 |
Having been a 'lurker' on this board for a while now I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth about how wonderful saturday night's gig was. I too cried during during quiet heart and was the loudest cheerer afterwards. But Heart out to tender was the show stopper of the night - amazing! The young drummer was very impressive - like he had deep respect for the material he was being invited to play on. And Adele and Glenn as always were in great form. My partner thought Robert looked depressed, not his usual campy and flippant performance - but that changed after intermission. He mainly played Evangelist songs in that first hour - so maybe, understandably, a somewhat maudlin record? Ariadne | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 224 Registered: 10-2006 |
My dictionary defines "maudlin" as "silly, sickly-sentimental, fuddled, half-drunk..." Now, I can think of a lot of adjectives to describe The Evangelist, but... | ||
| a vromen Member Username: Audrey Post Number: 5 Registered: 01-2006 |
mmm... i understand maudlin as introspective and sad; maybe (but maybe not) alcohol induced! | ||
| Ewan Talisker McEwan Member Username: Ewan_mcewan Post Number: 325 Registered: 02-2008 |
Bein's "Quiet Heart" is just about this longtime GBs fan's favorite song by them, ever, I'm incredibly envious of those who're getting to see Robert perform it. Given the circumstances, that has to open up unfathomable depths of emotion and beauty. They should pass out hankies before he plays that one... | ||
| Roger Griffin Member Username: Roger Post Number: 56 Registered: 11-2004 |
Pics from the first night: http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/roger.griff in/gobetweens/pics/DSC00176.jpg http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/roger.griff in/gobetweens/pics/DSC00180.jpg http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/roger.griff in/gobetweens/pics/DSC00185.jpg http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/roger.griff in/gobetweens/pics/DSC00201.jpg http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/roger.griff in/gobetweens/pics/DSC00203.jpg | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 214 Registered: 04-2005 |
Great pictures Roger. I'm really looking forward to the UK gigs in a couple of weeks. Cheers Jon | ||
| Austin Member Username: Bruegelpie Post Number: 58 Registered: 09-2004 |
Padraig, thanks for the great write ups! Sounds like spectacular shows! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2306 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks Austin. They were. Are you going to get to see him anywhere? | ||
| Austin Member Username: Bruegelpie Post Number: 59 Registered: 09-2004 |
Hi Padraig, Yes! The closest show to me is the Columbus (or C-Bus, as we all it here in the Midwest) Ohio show, where they will be playing Velvets songs! |