Music
Justin Currie and the Pallbearers
Perth Concert Hall
Lorraine Wilson
four stars
FOUR albums and ten years into his solo journey, Justin Currie has resisted the temptation to get the band back together for a jaunty run-through of the hits at till-jingling festivals or for album anniversaries.
That’s not to say he denies Del Amitri’s body of work – in fact, when he strides out suited and booted at Perth Festival, with only his acoustic and Stuart Nisbet on slide for company, Always the Last to Know and Tell Her This are precursors to being joined by Jim McDermott on drums and Nick Park on bass.
Essentially a solo operator, this has been his de facto band for a decade. It shows. This feels like a gang on stage rather than a lone gun with the best hired hands he can muster.
Of course there’s a new album, This Is My Kingdom Now, to promote, but after Fallen Trees he introduces, “Another new one, then it’s hit after f*****g hit, don’t worry.”
True to his word, Del fans were not disappointed, but the reaction to his solo work was occasionally as enthusiastic, particularly to Something in that Mess and the encore tour de force No Surrender, both from the first solo album What Is Love For?
It's a well-constructed set and for a four-piece offers an impressive range of textures from fully cranked-up to the sprawling set closer I Love the Sea, that Currie says, half-jokingly verges on prog.
In the midst of it all is the voice, unchanged (as is the appearance, from row N at least) for more than 30 years. Still honeyed at times and soaring at the most unexpected places, it’s the anchor to everything he does.
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