Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - 27 October 2012, Regent Theatre

This was a while back now, and I nearly forgot about it to be honest. The show is fine, but not great. The songs from new album are really good. If anything, I don't think the older songs (particularly Kasey Chambers' ones) are as good - or at least they don't fit well with the style they're playing now.

As usual, quiet shows are hard to record; this one is a bit hollow, but otherwise not too bad.

Adam and Eve

Wreck and Ruin

The Quiet Life

Rattlin’ Bones

Familiar Strangers

Dustbowl

Still Feeling Blue

Trick Knee Blues

Famous Last Words

Bad Machines

Jimmie Rodgers Was a Vampire

Not Pretty Enough

Pony

The Captain

Barricades & Brickwalls

The House That Never Was

Flat Nail Joe

Troubled Mind

Sick as a Dog

http://www.mediafire.com/?cf2bpbwtbpkb7 

Harry Hookey - 27 October 2012, Regent Theatre

I don’t usually bother with opening acts unless they’re someone I know or have heard good things about. That’s undoubtedly a bad thing since it means I miss out on discovering great new bands (I stumbled on Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! by turning up early for a St Vincent show). Similarly, I turned up early for Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, solely because there wasn’t a start time listed. Also fortunate – because I wasn’t sure if they were coming on early or it was an opener – I started recording when the lights went down. The good fortune was that Harry Hookey, who opened the set, is an amazing singer-songwriter. Quite how he’s managed to escape serious attention so far can only be due to the fact he’s still young and hasn’t yet released an album (just an EP). Despite that, he has the full package, a great voice, great songs, and a budding stage presence (at times he was clearly a bit in awe of the fact he was playing such a large venue, but I hope it’s something he has to get used to).

The sound for this is good. There is a tiny bit of chatter at times, but he generally managed to keep the crowd sufficiently interested that this was minimal. I’ve done my best to figure out the song titles, but wasn’t able to get everything. Anything in quotation marks is my best guess, mainly to prevent there being blank song titles. I’ll update this if anyone knows the official titles, or if they get revealed when he next releases something. This is a guy to watch out for.

‘Lovin’ Touch’

Misdiagnosed

‘Misunderstood’

Rolling Wheel

Audrey’s Song

‘Stars’

Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright

‘Let Me Die in My Own Bed’

Salvation Jane

http://www.mediafire.com/?37lmcqw33ezmc

Ryan Adams - 3 March 2012, Regent Theatre

There has been a lot of traffic to this site from Ryan Adams fansites, so I know a lot of people are keen to hear this.  As I've already mentioned, the sound here isn't everything I hoped it would be (although looking on the brightside its a problem that should be easily fixable for future recordings).  Having said that the show itself outshines any audio problems.

Reading a fan review of the Brisbane show I saw someone describe him as a 'delicate genius', which is about right.  He seems to have a tendency to be in either an extremely good or an extremely bad mood (with resulting effects on the show), and the cause of either could be something relatively minor.  For that reason there was a lot of tension early in the show, exacerbated by the fact that he was very quiet for a long time.  There was an almost audible intake of breath as an obnoxious fan yelled out for the lights to be turned up (apparently he also made more comments that weren't audible from where I was).  Fortunately as the show went on Ryan's mood seemed to get better to the point that by the end of the show he was positively gregarious.

The setlist started off relatively predicatably, but the fact that this was his first ever solo tour of Australia meant that most people would never have had the chance to hear some of the material played.  The regular Mr Cat improv didn't appear in Brisbane, so their was some nervousness that it might have disappeared for good, but it made an appearance late in the set, along with a nice improv based on Jason Isbell's 'Outfit'.  Other highlights were the piano-based version of Rescue Blues, the always-great Let it Ride, and Hardest Part.  Previous encores had been a cover of Alice in Chains' 'Nutshell', which would have been great.  While we didn't get that, we did get a three song (rather than the more usual one song) encore, including a very good cover of 'Holy Diver' by Dio.

The house lights and music came up before Ryan Adams had even left the stage, which disappointed those holding out for a very unlikely second encore, but overall no one should have left the venue with any disappointments (particularly if they caught Jason Isbell's opening set as well).

Oh My Sweet Carolina
Ashes & Fire
If I Am a Stranger
Dirty Rain
Winding Wheel
Rescue Blues [on piano]
Please Do Not Let Me Go
Do I Wait
Firecracker
Everybody Knows
Dear Chicago
Sylvia Plath
Let it Ride
English Girls Approximately
Chains of Love
16 Days
The Hardest Part
Lucky Now
Mr Cat Improv
New York, New York
Two
Jason Isbell's 'Outfit' Improv
Come Pick Me Up


Holy Diver
Avenues
When Will You Come Back Home

http://www.mediafire.com/?defc4j3bbwa9e

Jason Isbell - 3 March 2012, Regent Theatre

Every opening act hopes to be able to capture a few new fans with their short set, and I'm pretty sure Jason Isbell succeeded in that aim.  Personally, its been his songs, rather than Ryan Adams', that have been in my head the last few days.  Before he was announced as support for the tour I had heard of Jason Isbell, but never actually heard him.  Now I'm hanging out for his latest release to arrive in the post.
To the show - as you would expect the place was only about a third full when Isbell came on stage, but those that were there were treated to a great set mixing songs from his new album Here We Rest, with Drive-By Truckers songs, and throwing in a Richard Thompson cover. 
Recording wise this came out very well, the only downside is that you can occassionally here some talking as people find their seats (particularly during Go It Alone).

Tour of Duty
Go It Alone

Danko/Manuel

Alabama Pines

Goddamn Lonely Love

Keep Your Distance

Outfit

Daisy Mae


http://www.mediafire.com/?2qph2x3ha2woj