Shane Nicholson Lets Hell Break Loose at the Caravan Music Club

Shane Nicholson – Caravan Music Club – 8 August 2015

It was great to back in the wilds of Oakleigh at the Caravan Music Club, especially as one of my favourite Australian singer-songwriters was the star act.

I discovered Shane Nicholson way back in 2003 when he opened for a Kasey Chambers concert at the Palais in St Kilda, where I was so impressed by his performance that I sought out his debut solo CD It’s A Movie the next day. I still play it every so often and consider it has weathered the test of time remarkably well.

On Saturday night, Shane was launching his new album, Hell Breaks Loose, which had been released the day before. It has been widely praised by the critics – Rolling Stone Magazine gave it 4 stars – so I was really looking forward to hearing the new songs, and also picking up a copy of the CD at the concert.

The Weeping Willows (Andy Wrigglesworth and Laura Coates), who I recently witnessed opening for Iris Dement, were the support act for Shane Nicholson as well. My impression, seeing them for a second time, was that they had improved and appeared much more confident and upbeat in their performance.

They played a delightfully engaging set, many of the songs being newly composed for their forthcoming second, Pozible crowd funded, record. These included River of Gold, Travelling Man, Forgotten Flowers and Garden of Tears.

It is public knowledge that Shane Nicholson has separated from Kasey Chambers, his wife of six years. Shane claims that the new record is not a “break up” album. He admits that it is heavy in tone, but added that he liked “heavy” and that he was generally happy in his single state.

On Saturday night a number of songs from Hell Breaks Loose were played, but the majority of the 21 song set were either drawn from his earlier albums or covers of other artists.

Shane kicked off his set with new single Second Hand Man, then harked back to his collaboration with Kasey Chambers, singing Wreck & Ruin, the title track from their second joint album. That was followed by a song from Shane’s most recent solo studio recording, Bad Machines, the song being Jimmie Rodgers Was A Vampire.

The show promo advertised Shane Nicholson as appearing with a very special surprise guest.  This turned out to be Melody Pool, whom I have previously seen when she opened for the 2013 Milk Carton Kids concert at Thornbury Theatre.

She added her lovely voice to two of the covers, Stop Dragging My Heart Around, a Tom Petty penned song made famous by Stevie Nicks, and Believing from the Nashville TV Series.  She also sang lead vocals on a new song of her own, Black Dog, a bleak but powerful song about depression.

Melody Pool at Caravan Music Club -  8 August 2015

The songs from Shane’s new record sounded fantastic. He has a deft way with words and writes wonderful lyrics. Particularly moving was Single Fathers and Hermannsburg, the latter composed during a visit with his friend, Aboriginal singer songwriter, Warren H Williams in the Outback.

Towards the end of Shane’s set, he summoned The Weeping Willows to the stage, along with Melody Pool and they gathered around a single microphone to sing John Prine’s The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness.

 
The Weeping Willows, Melody Pool & Shane Nicholson

Supporting Shane through most of his set was *John Bedggood who played  tasteful fiddle and mandolin, whilst Shane stuck to guitar and occasionally tickled the piano keys.

As it has been several years since I have seen Shane Nicholson live, it was a rare pleasure to attend the concert at Caravan Music Club. It was a sell out, which must have been heart warming for Shane as I recall seeing him at the now defunct East Brunswick Club back in 2006 where only a handful of people showed up.

He has now won several music awards over the ensuing years, and has finally been recognised as one of the best singer-songwriters in Australia.

I wish him every success with Hell Breaks Loose.

SET LISTS

THE WEEPING WILLOWS SET LIST

1. Down Below
2. River of Gold
3. Forever In My Dreams
4. Falling Rain
5. Travelling Man
6. Forgotten Flowers
7. ?
8. Garden of Tears
9. Devil ?
10. ?
11. Sixteen Feet of Stone

SHANE NICHOLSON SET LIST

1. Second Hand Man
2. Wreck & Ruin
3. Jimmie Rodgers Was A Vampire
4. The Quiet Life
5. Weight of the World
6. Hell Breaks Loose
7. Monkey On A Wire
8. Home
9. Rattlin’ Bones
10. Irons & Chains
11. Single Fathers
12. Stop Dragging My Heart Around (Tom Petty)
13. Believing (Nashville TV Series)
14. Black Dog (Melody Pool)
15. Woe Is Mine
16. Once In A While
17. The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (John Prine)
18. Flat Nail Joe

Encore

1. Hermannsburg
2. House That Never Was
3. Never Been To Spain (Waylon Jennings)

* Thanks to the anonymous commenter for supplying the name of Shane’s support musician.

Blue Stars & Birthday Greetings–Ryan Adams Shines at the Forum Theatre

Ryan Adams rocking out at the Forum Theatre 19/7/15

It was a chilly night in old Melbourne town last Sunday evening, and  keen fans queued early to get good positions in the general admission sold out show, myself among them (I arrived at around 6.25). There was a delay in opening the doors, so it was around 7.20pm that the audience was finally permitted to enter the lavish interior of the Forum Theatre, where the Gods smile down on the masses from their plinths on the walls and along the aisles.

I was disappointed to discover that my favourite booth up the front, along with the other front booths, was reserved. It was my understanding that General Admission is on a first come, first served basis and I was unaware that seats could be booked.

So, unwilling at my age to stand for hours in the mosh pit, I was obliged to grab what seating I could  farther back than I would have liked – hence the less than perfect photos I managed to snap.

All the above inconveniences were more than compensated for by the quality of entertainment on offer, and that included the support act, American singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis.

Jenny Lewis live at the Forum Theatre 19/7/15

Admittedly I am not all that au fait with Jenny Lewis’ artistic output, possessing only Rabbit Fur Coat in my CD collection, which I have not listened to for years. Her latest record Voyager was produced by Ryan Adams, so naturally she sang a few songs from it, Just One Of The Guys and She’s Not Me are the tunes I recognised from my You Tube research on the artist leading up the show. Originally she was associated with rock band Rilo Kiley and in my opinion the songs she played last night from that era of her career were the winners. Acid Tongue is a great song from her first solo record, whereas Portions For Foxes  dates back to her time with Rilo Kiley.

Her set was engaging and entertaining and she looked a treat playing her rainbow hued guitar, dressed in a white trouser suit.  She had an ace band supporting her, but I’m unable to find details of their names, though several were female.

Ryan Adams and The Shining trooped onto the stage at around 9.15pm and instantly launched into the first track on the recent Ryan Adams Self Titled album, Gimme Something Good, closely following that with the bouncy Let It Ride from Cold Roses.

I felt the first half of the show was a little flat, but the band warmed up over the two hours they played and by the end of the night I was totally enthralled. The set list encompassed songs from most of Ryan Adams back catalogue of albums and included many favourites of mine – Oh My Sweet Carolina (Jenny Lewis joined him for this), When The Stars Go Blue, La Cienega Just Smiled, and particularly Sweet Illusions, rarely performed live, which I was really hoping he would sing. There were other rarities, in terms of the concerts I have witnessed, like I See Monsters, Nobody Girl and To Be Young.

It was mostly a rock n roll concert with several songs ending in extended jams, where Ryan was able to channel his inner rock child. Quieter ballads were interspersed with the rockier numbers so it was a wisely chosen sequence of songs.

The last few Ryan Adams shows I have attended were dimly lit, but Sunday night you could actually see Ryan’s face distinctly. He suffers from Meniere’s Disease, an affliction of the inner ear, and bright flashing lights exacerbate the problem. He obviously is concerned about the lighting in his shows, and found a sympathetic lighting technician in Gigi to whom he composed a Happy Birthday song off the cuff in gratitude. It was funny and clever. He also passed a birthday cake into the audience to be delivered to the lady in question in the lighting section at the middle of the theatre.

Gigi created some wonderful lighting effects, the twinkling blue stars in the background being particularly appropriate.

The Shining are a completely different band to the Cardinals (Ryan Adams former band) both in style and sound. The Cardinals had a touch of country twang and gorgeous ringing guitars, whereas The Shining are more a straight rock n roll band. They are guitarist Mike Viola,  bassist Charlie Stavish, drummer Freddie Bokkenheuser and keyboardist Daniel Clarke.

It was great to hear New York, New York played in the fast tempo it was originally recorded in. All the previous times I’ve seen Ryan Adams live, it has been sung in a distinctly slow bluesy fashion – very nice too.

I ended up not going to the second concert, as the friend I was accompanying cried off, so I found another taker for the tickets, a Ryan Adams fan, who was pleased to purchase them at a discounted price.

Ryan Adams and The Shining played for a solid two hours, so it was after midnight by the time I got home. As a result I felt rather tired yesterday, so felt relieved I did not have to go through the hassle of getting to the theatre, waiting in the queue etc. etc. again.

And the verdict?

Every Ryan Adams concert I have attended (seven now) has been different and you never really know what to expect. This year’s concert was probably not the best I’ve seen, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. I’ve always thought that the Cardinals show at the Forum in January 2009 was the best, closely followed by his solo show at The Regent in March 2012. Sunday’s show is probably my third favourite Ryan Adams concert.

Anyway, it’s always a thrill to see Ryan Adams live in concert – I’ll certainly attend for as long as I am able.

Ryan Adams Set List

1. Gimme Something Good (Self Titled)
2. Let It Ride (Cold Roses)
3. Stay With Me (Self Titled)
4. Dirty Rain (Ashes & Fire)
5. This House Is Not For Sale (Love Is Hell)
6. Dear Chicago (Demolition)
7. Magnolia Mountain (Cold Roses)
8. My Winding Wheel (Heartbreaker)
9. To Be Young (Heartbreaker)
10. Peaceful Valley (Jacksonville City Nights)
11. Kim (Self Titled)
12. Oh My Sweet Carolina (Heartbreaker)
13. When the Stars Go Blue (Gold)
14. Shakedown on 9th Street (Heartbreaker)
15. My Baby Don't Understand Me (Natalie Prass cover)
16. New York, New York (Gold)
17. Improv song: happy birthday GiGi
18. I See Monsters (Love Is Hell)
19. Sweet Illusions (Cold Roses)
20. La Cienega Just Smiled (Gold)
21. Trouble (Self Titled)
22. Nobody Girl (Gold)

Encore

1. Come Pick Me Up (Heartbreaker)

My next musical treat is Shane Nicholson at Caravan Music Club on 8th August. He has a new album “Hell Breaks Loose” and will be launching it at the Caravan.