A Stay at The Church II

We traveled down to Dunsborough last weekend to watch The Church play at the Dunsborough Tavern! Last time we journeyed down that way to catch a show was for Josh Pyke in July last year. It was cool to venture out of Perth and see him play somewhere different. 

As The Church were playing The Rosemount in Perth on a Friday night I already had a gig on, heading to Dunsborough on a Saturday I (eventually) had free seemed like the way to go. Rhones and I love our roadtrips and quick breaks too. We booked into a little B&B and headed down to the pub around 8:30pm.

Unusually, there wasn't another act playing earlier. We got the skinny from friend of ours who had provided the audio gear; the band's roadie held up an iPhone and announced it as the support act, he he he. Anyway, The Church took to the stage just after 9pm. They started playing right in the middle of a transaction I was making for a tour T-shirt, in fact.

The Church live at Dunsborough Tavern, 18th Nov 2017

Now, I had been following their setlists from previous shows, and was hoping for something a little different from their recent US tour. Checking out reviews of their Adelaide and Perth gigs revealed that they were using the setlist I got from South by Southwest as a guide. So, it was pretty similar, which isn't a bad thing really, as I knew what to expect. I'd listened to each song from the SxSW show and had become fairly familiar with it all. One track I'd become quite fond of, Aura, kicked off the SxSW gig (and 1992's Priest=Aura album), so when they took to the stage with Myrrh (from 1985's Heyday) I felt a little dismayed.

That dismay dissipated pretty quickly as I got caught up in the night's opening song choice and felt the awe of seeing bassist/lead singer Steve Kilbey, guitarist Peter Koppes, drummer Tim Powles and ex-Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug. Jeffrey Cain (ex-Remy Zero) provided additional guitar and keyboard throughout the evening. Their roadie/guitar tech Ross Molloy even took on bass duties during Undersea from their wonderful new album, Man Woman Life Death Infinity, so that Kilbey could unleash his theatrical front man for a spell.

As Myrrh gave way to Toy Head (from 2014's Further/Deeper - the first Church album to feature Haug) I was getting quite a sensory buzz from the sights and sounds of one of Australia's longest running bands. As they approach their fourth decade together, they are focused on moving forward. Close to half of the songs performed on the night were taken from their last two albums. 

While they are selling out venues all over the country, the crowd at the Dunsborough Tavern was fairly modest, probably being about half full. There were some hardcore fans there sporting old tour t-shirts, but most were casual listeners who were there to hear Metropolis, Under the Milky Way and The Unguarded Moment (which they got); the latter still a big favourite of mine, despite the chagrin it causes Kilbey. 

There was a decent smattering of their back catalogue, but if it wasn't for the glorious Day 5 (from 2006's Uninvited, Like The Clouds), there would have been nothing between the years of 1990 and 2014. Day 5 has become a big favourite of mine over the last few weeks, and they dragged the song out to include Kilbey riffing on the Beatles' Within You Without You which fit in brilliantly! I was very surprised that they didn't perform anything from 1982's classic album The Blurred Crusade, fan fave Priest=Aura or the much lauded Untitled #23 from 2009.

I was pretty entranced for the entire evening, and marveled at how good they sounded. This is certainly not a band that are winding up, and I'm hopeful for what they'll be delivering in future years. I hope they attempt another tour akin to the one-off show at the Sydney Opera House in 2011, A Psychedelic Symphony. Or another tour consisting of albums performed in their entirety a la 2015's Further/Deeper and The Blurred Crusade tour. Or a revisit on the theme of the Future Past Perfect tour, wherein they played the Untitled #23, Priest=Aura and Starfish albums. I'm very keen to see what new music they will release too.

Anyway, here's the setlist from the night, with my five fave moments highlighted...

Myrrh (1985 - Heyday) *

Toy Head (2014 - Further/Deeper)

Metropolis (1990 - Gold Afternoon Fix) *

Another Century (2017 - Man Woman Life Death Infinity) *

Delirious (2014 - Further/Deeper)

Fly (1983 - Seance) 

North, South, East and West (1987 - Starfish)

Day 5 (2006 - Uninvited, Like The Clouds) *

Constant in Opal (1984 - Persia EP)

Undersea (2017 - Man Woman Life Death Infinity)

I Don't Know How I Don't Know Why (2017 - Man Woman Life Death Infinity)

Tantalized (1985 - Heyday)

Under the Milky Way (1987 - Starfish)

Reptile (1987 - Starfish)

Encore:

The Unguarded Moment (1981 - Of Skins & Hearts) *

Miami (2014 - Further/Deeper)

Album of the Week - Vol.7

Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars EDIE BRICKELL & NEW BOHEMIANS (1988)
Week: Wed 18th Oct to Tue 24th Oct
Format: iPod
Producer: Pat Moran
Track listing:
1. What I Am *
2. Little Miss S. *
3. Air of December *
4. The Wheel *
5. Love Like We Do
6. Circle *
7. Beat the Time
8. She
9. Nothing
10. Now
11. Keep Coming Back
12. I Do
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 48:22

Mention the name Edie Brickell and, I guess, most people will offer up What I Am. It's the first song on her first album with the New Bohemians, and her debut single. She recorded a solo album before Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, that was available in a limited number, and on cassette only. A lot of people might not know that she has released a few bluegrass albums with Steve Martin (yes, THAT Steve Martin). Or that she has made three solo albums. Or that she also put out three more records with New Bohemians, one of them live. Or that she has also formed bands The Heavy Circles and The Gaddabouts (which features the namesake, and legendary drummer, Steve Gadd). Hey, she's married to Paul Simon too! 

Aside from this album, my only other Edie Brickell experience is her wonderful cover of Dylan's A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall on the Born On The Fourth of July soundtrack. I think I remember a snippet her song Good Times from her 1994 solo debut Picture Perfect Morning on a Windows demo disc as well. But, that's it. I may or may not delve into more of her material in the future. For now, let's just look at this album.

I don't own a copy of this, but I remember listening to it a bit during my time at Southern Sound down in Albany (a music store I worked at from 1994-1996). I've had taped copies from friends, and I think I nabbed it of someone's iTunes one time. Anyway, it's on my iPod and I dig a few of the tracks a lot. I remember watching the What I Am film clip on RAGE (and possibly Video Hits, wow; how can I forget that?) when it first came out. I was struck by the guitar solo, as it used a wah-wah like effect that I hadn't really heard before.

The first half is certainly stronger than the second, in my opinion. During the eighties most albums seemed to put the singles and better album tracks at the start, leaving the rest of the record to sort of dwindle away a bit. All my picks from Shooting Rubberbands... are on what would be Side A for what it's worth.

My absolute favourite track here is Circle. I just love it. The lyrics are fantastic and the intro guitar picking is sublime. The part where she sings that "everything is temporary anyway" is just magic. The song was recently used in a montage of the fairly silly series Wet Hot American Summer - Ten Years Later, but it still gave me a lump in my throat.

I found myself singing the chorus of Little Miss S. over the course of the week. It's got a great melody, and I would suggest that's also catchy as heck. The ethereal Air of December is full of crescendos and falls and takes its time in weaving its six-minute spell. 

The whole album is very listenable, but a couple of tracks seem to stick out, namely Beat the Time and Keep Coming Back. There's a raucousness or something there that just doesn't fit the flow. They're not bad songs by any means, they just jolt you out of the album's overall feel. I think Edie's voice works better on the folkier tunes as well. When the band tries to rock it up, their reach seems to exceed their grasp.

However, this doesn't spoil the record. It merely stops a very good album from being excellent.