Support act Graveyard Train are a lot of fun to watch. Employing unusual instrumentation, such as chains and washboards, they are a hugely popular local band who wear their influences on their sleeves. The eight piece have been heavily influenced by the likes of The Pogues and Weddings, Parties, Anything as well as Anglo-Celt music, sea shanties and a bit of country and western thrown in for good measure. A good choice as a support band for Concrete Blonde.
Concrete Blonde took the stage at around 10:30. From the moment she set foot on stage, Johnette Napolitano commanded both the stage and the very passionate audience. This was a crowd that absolutely adored the band and their music.
Tonight’s concert was celebrating the 20th anniversary of their benchmark album “Bloodletting”, which the set drew heavily from. To their credit, the band didn’t simply march through the album song for song, note for note as has happened with other artists performing albums live. Australia has always had a wonderful relationship with Concrete Blonde – this was the first country in the world where “Bloodletting” went gold.
Of course, although sheis very charismatic, there is more to Concrete Blonde than just Johnette. Both co-founding guitarist James Mankey and drummer Gabriel Ramirez were in fine form. Mankey, in particular, shone as a guitarist during both “Joey” and a wonderful take on the Jimi Hendrix track “Little Wing”.
In the live spectrum, the songs from “Bloodletting” came up an absolute treat. While a brilliant album, the production on “Bloodletting” always sounded very much of its time, the late 1980’s/early 1990’s, with lots of synthesisers and, at times, sounded overproduced.
It was truly wonderful to hear songs such as “Lullaby” and the title track stripped back from what they sounded like on record and taken back to basics. Tonight proved that good songs stand on their own, regardless of studio trickery, something a lot of modern artists could bear in mind. The band know the songs inside out; this shows with how well they gelled with each other on a musical level.
Johnette’s voice has improved wonderfully with age. This voice was passionate and alive like never heard before. This was at the forefront on both their cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” which, after 20 years, they have pretty much adopted and a truly stunning version of “Tomorrow Wendy”. She also displayed some serious skills as a bass player. Known for their wonderful interpretations of songs by other artists, tonight didn’t disappoint on that front. The encore featured a stirring rendition of the Midnight Oil track “Beds Are Burning”.
This was one of the best concerts this reviewer has seen this year. Repeatedly, Johnette thanked the crowd for such a passionate and heartfelt response. Twenty years later, the music of Concrete Blonde still means a great deal to people. It’s such a pleasure to see a band that has been around for so long both respect and live up to that legacy and remain relevant. It’s also a joy to see a band enjoy performing live as much as the audience love watching them.
– Neil Evans
