| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5065 Registered: 05-2005 |
I went both Friday and Saturday nights. On both nights he was supported by Toby Martin from Youth Group, who was very good and is also a very nice fellah. Before the show on Friday I bumped into Robert on the street in Newtown. Oddly, considering how often I've seen him play, this was the first time I'd ever met him away from a venue. Robert played solo, but Adele Pickvance and her lovely partner were at Friday's show. Bleddyn Butcher (who wrote the recent book on David McComb) was at Saturday night's show. He's a nice bloke. I went to both shows with Austin of this board (who was over on business from America) and we met up with some other people too. It's always good to meet like minded souls. We were talking to Robert before the second show and he warned us that he would be doing all the same jokes again, so we were not to spoil the punchlines by laughing in advance! We didn't. I didn't take notes as to what Robert played (Austin did though, so maybe he will post the lists here when he gets a chance). He opened with The Circle both nights though. And mighty fine it was. 121 on Saturday was another stand out. Streets Of Your Town on Saturday was great. He did a cover of Sarah Blasko's All I Want near the end both nights. It was great. Born To A Family was introduced with a story which takes far longer than the song and involves the Smiths - next door neighbours when he was growing up, not Marr and Morrissey. Caroline & I also had a long story before it, with several very good punchlines. Surfing Magazines was great both nights. I've come to love this song. I didn't like it at all when it first came out. The audience, me included, did backing vocals on it. There were two songs Robert introduced as new. One, called I Love Myself And I Always Will, isn't really new. I first saw him play it in Brisbane in August 2010. It's a good song. The other new song wasn't great, but maybe would work better with a full band. I'd love to see Robert write some songs with Adele and Glenn. Who knows, it might happen sometime. After last night's show a few of us got a tip-off something special was happening in another venue (more honestly, one of our number overheard Robert talking about it!). Robert left the Vanguard and got into a car to be taken to The Annandale so he could get there in time to duet with Henry Wagons on I Still Can't Find Her from his recent mini-album, Expecting Company. So five of us (three in a car, two of us in a cab) followed Robert to the Annandale! We saw the second half of one song, then Henry Wagons said he had one more song to play from his album, which was a duet he did with Robert Forster. But he didn't say Robert was going to walk on stage halfway through to sing his part! It was great. There was one more Wagons song after that before the curfew at midnight. Afterwards Robert show us a high school history book which is coming out next year and which includes a chapter on The Go-Betweens. He is rightly proud of this. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 5066 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Sydney Morning Herald's review of Saturday's show is here http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/musi c/flying-low-on-his-solo-effort-20121111 -295xn.html | ||
| Simon Proudman Member Username: Sproudman Post Number: 2 Registered: 12-2011 |
The SMH review does not match my views on the gig. Really entertaining, some great stories and (mostly) well played tunes. A rather wonderful night out in Newtown from the hardest working man in rock ("8 gigs in 2 years" as he laughingly put it) The encore with Toby of "You can't reach me" in particular was a highlight. The stories behind the songs almost made it more of stand-up comedy in places, which added up to great entertainment. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3065 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ouch. Solo is hard to do. The listener has to bring some imagination to the show, to hear the bigger arrangements contemplated by the performer. | ||
| Julia Motzko Member Username: Julia Post Number: 1 Registered: 12-2012 |
hi! so the first night of the 2 nights of Robert's European tour in Regensburg has been great. powerful performance, energetic, the voice really good, and Karin at the violin as brave and forceful as I have not heard her before. The setlist was something like this: 1. The Circle 2. Pandanus 3. I can do 4. I'm alright 5. Born to a family 6. Darlinghurst NIghts 7. He lives my life 8. Spring Rain 9. Baby Stones 10. I love myself and I always have 11. Surfing Magazines 12.I'm gonna tell it (new, title?) 13. River People 14. A Place to Hide Away 15. Jack Kerouac 16. Love is where it is 17. Part Company 18. Here comes a city 19. Justice 20. 121 so, there were the 3 unpublished "newer" songs, and robert said he will go and record a new album next year which will be Album of the Year in 2014 then. We also got to enjoy the story of the neighbor Mr. Smith before "Born to a family", but told in broken German. He also told some stories of his time in Alteglofsheim (something about chasing a pig back into its yard) and when he lived in Prebrunnallee in Regensburg and which songs were written there (He lives my life, Surfing Magazines). I was especially happy about Spring Rain, one of my favorites (next to "I've been looking for someone"), and all the wonderful Robert Forster solo songs. Of course Baby Stones is about regensburg, so it was fitting to play it here. In Here comes a city, Etterzhausen is mentioned, along the trainride from Regensburg to Frankfurt (I guess to take the repeated flights to Australia from Frankfurt Airport while living in Germany!). He said that the song Justice has always been a favorite of his, and that he hadn't really practiced it before (which you could not hear then of course, at least I did not). It was really touching! I guess that a great many friends and family from the German side were in the audience, so it was a "Heimspiel". The concert was more than worth the 3 years wait, but I hope that next time won't be that long again, although the Forsters did not seem to have aged that much (Robert lost some weight, Karin ages beautifully), but I felt it myself, especially when I saw his kids who are teenagers now and who I remember in the pram. argh! | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 775 Registered: 04-2005 |
Thanks for that Julia ! And 'Justice' has always been a fave of mine. A little gem of a song. Do you just have the good luck to live close to Regensburg ? | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 700 Registered: 10-2006 |
Justice is a favourite of mine, too. Lovely report, Julia - I wish my own trip to Regensburg had coincided with a Robert gig! It was a nice wee place to visit anyway, though. | ||
| David Tang Member Username: Ddtng Post Number: 12 Registered: 08-2008 |
On the Sydney shows, I definitely would've gone to the Saturday show instead of the Friday had I known he would be playing Streets of Your Town... | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 268 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for the report from Regensburg Julia! I really enjoyed the show too - thought it was a very special evening, Robert was tip top. Couldn't follow the song introductions in German so I didn't know Baby Stones was based around Regensburg, 121 - was introduced in English by Robert as being lyrically set in Regensburg - 'tombstones, cobblestones, those old bones, that lie beneath this city and I want to see her one to one...'. It's hard to believe that 'Calling from a country phone' was nearly twenty years ago!! Where did all the time go? | ||
| Julia Motzko Member Username: Julia Post Number: 2 Registered: 12-2012 |
oh you were there too? flew there especially, or what? wow. Yes I meant 121 with all these "stones", although Baby Stones has them in its title. ;) A friend of mine was there on the second night and he said he was blown away. He didn't expect it but then it was a really emotional night for him. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 269 Registered: 05-2005 |
I was in the neighbourhood, passing through so to speak on my way to Transylvania .... | ||
| Ian Darby Member Username: Jan Post Number: 18 Registered: 10-2006 |
I went to the Melbourne show at the lovely Thornbury Theatre and it was great. Significantly better than last time I saw him at the Toff (on the roof). I thought he was in great form and loved the Mr Smith (next door) story and the anecdote about shopping with his mother for fine knitwear. A lovely introduction to playing Streets of Your Town as well. "I didn't always like this song and I don't play it very well". Followed by playing it really well! |