overlap

Now, I’ve had my ticket for this gig for months, and long-awaited gigs have a habit of not quite turning out so good for the months of impatient waiting, but this was not to be the case. In the late 1990s I first came across Mick Thomas doing solo shows with Attila the Stockbroker, and was impressed enough to look for some of his back catalogue fronting Weddings Parties Anything to the point that I ended up working pretty hard on ebay to end up with six or seven albums. WPA reformed to do a show down under in 2006, and on subsequent european trips, Mick was asked if there was any chance of them doing a show over here enough times that I eventually got an email from the mailing list months ago inviting people to express a firm commitment to try to get there if such a gig were to happen. It turns out their last show in the UK was fourteen years ago, and with less than a dozen shows in Australia this time around, the only show in the northern hemisphere, probably ever, is always going to be a little bit special. Cover songs are often a bit of a lottery, but The Go Set were onto a winner by ending their set with a rocked up version of Billy Bragg’s Waiting For the Great Leap Forward. WPA top this with a highly appropriate slowed down trot through Thin Lizzy’s The Boys Are Back In Town, with Mark Wallace’s accordion and Jen Anderson’s fiddle doing the twin harmony guitar lines – genius! Two songs in, Mick’s shirt is soaked with sweat, the crowd are in full voice and it’s an absolute privilege just to witness this show. As a one-off event, I’m noting down the set so I end up knowing what they played, and as one song finishes and another starts within about ten seconds, there’s a notable intent to pack the songs in. I do like the stories Mick tells at his solo shows, but the effort to get on with it is very much appreciated, even if some people on stage look like they are only just catching their breath between songs! Mick, getting warmed up Unknown set pieces in songs can sometimes leave the unfamiliar gig-goer feeling excluded from a private event, but in this case having a good handle on virtually everything they play means I can demonstrate how far short of word perfect I am singing along. It also means that I understand what’s happening in Ticket In Tatts, when the line “I’m ten cents short of a dollar” is sung with Mick covering his eyes and Jen hiding behind Mark as a helpful crowd chucks copper coins at Mick to help him make up the shortfall. It would be easy for some performers to not enjoy that sort of thing, but Mick’s a bit tougher than that, and he can hardly argue that he didn’t ask for it. Indeed, the big don’t argue, to quote a WPA album title. Industrial Town sees the guest appearance of Swill from The Men They Couldn’t Hang singing (and identifying which vocal mike wasn’t working), and as Tilting At Windmills is belted out, we are ten songs in and my voice is starting to go. All too quickly we run through most of what is on the live album ‘They Were Better Live’ and a few select other tracks before Scorn Of The Women closes the set as a thoughtful reminder of what ANZAC day is all about. It’s one of the appealing factors of WPA for me, where the vast amounts of particularly British but also American stuff I listen to is outshone by exotic names of places I expect never to visit, no matter how exotic Warrnambool and Woolloomooloo may or may not turn out to be in reality. It’s also something that WPA and the Go Set share, a healthy sense of where they are from rather than a desperate urge to suppress what comes naturally in order to fit in with Hollywood or wherever the big money is these days. And it’s the natural sweat of authenticity that sees them back on stage for a three song encore before an epic and appropriately tapering For A Short Time fades away to finish off a very special night. I’m getting a bit long in the tooth for such grandiose claims, and even I rate this in my top ten gigs which is something that doesn’t happen often these days. Thanks Mick and co, that was truly splendid and I’m really glad you made it back to this side of the planet one last time – chonk on! Setlist: The Boys Are Back In Town Roaring Days Away Away Ticket In Tatts Laughing Boy Industrial Town Grey Skies Over Collingwood Luckiest Man Hungry Years Tilting At Windmills Rosy And Grey Father’s Day Rain In My Heart Sergeant Small Woman Of Ireland Streets Of Forbes Scorn Of The Women -------- Step In Step Out Wide Open Road Knockbacks In Halifax -------- For A Short Time

Labels: gigs, Jen Anderson, Mark Wallace, Michael Barclay, Mick Thomas, Paul Thomas, Stephen O'Prey, Weddings Parties Anything