The Waterboys In Melbourne

Submitted by Junior Wells on 31 January 2013 - 10:47am
Where: 
Hamer Hall, Melbourne ,Australia
When: 
Wednesday January 30,2013
Comment: 
Local band Oh Mercy were a good and appropriate support before, after 30 years wait, Mike Scott hits the stage with a fedora shielding his face for most of the night.He seems to like Melb arriving a week ahead of the tour ,doing a book reading ,hanging in local cafes bookshops etc and at the conclusion said he hoped to be back within a year. Hope so too. As is often the case we got a stripped down band no brass etc drums ,Mike on guitar ,keys, bass and of course Steve reigning supreme on fiddle. He opened with bang the drum and the first reaction is his voice is lower than on the records - well it would be wouldn't it? Less focus on Mr Yeats than I expected, a nice segue into Van Morrison's Healing Has Begun ( a personal favourite and Purple Rain featured in the encore. Incredible how close Steve gets to Prince's magnificent guitar solo. The Hamer Hall is high end but for this version of the band, in this format, a pub might have been better as he preferred rocking out.
The audience: 
Wide range in age, some granny's some kids , lots of middle aged Irish and Scots, rows of em at the time including the blokes behind me insisting on talking loudly at the recognition of every song.Sedate.
Food & drink: 
Noodles on the way ,no booze on account of hangover post Richard Hawley the night before
It made me think: 
That's a lot of words to remember Mike and why didn't you play This Is The Sea.

Comments

for posting. No This Is The Sea ? How about Peace Of Iona ?

Rob C | 31 January 2013 - 12:14pm.

has the most beautiful melody - an excellent song and a great review of the gig Junior.

SteveT | 31 January 2013 - 3:28pm.

but stand to be corrected

Junior Wells | 31 January 2013 - 8:24pm.

have heard others comment on the sound.It was ordinary.

Admittedly it is mainly a classical venue so rock 'ish" bands may not be optimal but this performance was subjected to very ordinary sound.Mike's vocals were at times quite muddy. Can you imagine that? A man known for his lyrics and you can't hear em !

It's obvious that the sound bloke had littele preparation and didn't know their stuff. You'd almost think briniging your own sound man is more importat than an ancillary band member. A corner cut with consequences calamitous.

Point 2, early into the performance someone associated with the band is on stage gesticulating to the on stage sound guy - imitates fiddler then points up up up. Over the other side: keys up , vocals etc etc

I mean fuck me what is the point of a sound check if , well, the sound is not checked?

Junior Wells | 2 February 2013 - 10:34am.