It’s rare to see a band or musician play live and totally expose themselves to their audience, the ego drops, the naked self, the guitar and voice, the stories and tales all conclude in that self deprecating humor, the hecklers, the regrets of a life in the industry, the stories of peers, the highs and lows, the backing band who you rehearsed with for an hour somehow magically all pulling through and sounding as though they had been playing forever together, the wit and banter, the sadness and insecurity, the genius that is really still unrecognized and the human face behind one of the most enigmatic figures, raw and exposed, vunerable and brave enough to just shine for being human. That was steve kilbey last night at his dvd launch at the lovely Vanguard in Newtown.
A set list that was equally covers as his own work and sounding quite different from the dvd itself, there were moments where the band just were in the zone, one inch rock, keeper, what’s a sweetheart like you and the track from GB3 were amazing but steve was was also enjoying telling us the tales of a life in rock and roll, he was far removed from the glitz and glamour and perfection that most rock legends attempt to be in. This was connection with the audience that was so connected most people would find it, maybe to honest. There were moments where people were confronted by the contrasting persona to the usual detached church frontman yet in essence it was the most refreshing show I’ve seen of steves and the crowd were very supportive, for a Sydney crowd.
I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely nic, Steves’ wife and catching up with glen who filmed some of the show. Fantastic evening, can’t wait for the next one.
the highlight for me was the part where steve told us he was going on the tv show rock quiz and was specializing in rock stars real names and challenged the audience to test his skill, i yelled out brian eno and he nailed it, in fact he nailed them all, except one.
And there was a fantastic bit where steve told a story about Julian Cope that was quite amazing. Thanks Steve, glorious night.