Live Review: Mick Thomas - Beetle Bar

8 May 2012 | 4:23 pm | Ahmed Saad

One person who needs no such introduction is Mick Thomas – not for the rowdy mob here in attendance at any rate – and when he enters the fray in solo mode and kicks into new track My Mother’s Guitar the response is immediate and overwhelming.

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There's always something fun about watching bawdy local denizens The Good Ship ply their tawdry trade, and tonight is no exception as they open proceedings with a slew of naughty nautical-themed numbers. Their retro costumes add a theatrical bent to the spectacle, but it's their crudely humorous songs such as Seven Seas and These Are A Few Of My Favourite Flings that are the mainstays of their arsenal, although their ability to throw in stylish covers such as The Decemberists' The Rake's Song adds even more to their appeal.

Portland folk chanteuse Shelley Short is up next and she offers a string of lovely plaintive acoustic-based numbers, delivered in her hushed voice and carried by her naïve and simple charm. The large minority of folk who prefer to talk loudly over her music miss out on some gems – indeed one has to move quite close to the stage to hear the lyric-driven narratives at all – but those who make the effort are rewarded with touching songs such as the beautiful June. Short endearingly tells some fairly awful nanna jokes between songs, but doesn't receive the attention she clearly warrants until joined by Mick and Wal from the headliners for the lilting Like Anything, It's Small. A nice introduction to a clearly talented artist.

One person who needs no such introduction is Mick Thomas – not for the rowdy mob here in attendance at any rate – and when he enters the fray in solo mode and kicks into new track My Mother's Guitar the response is immediate and overwhelming. Long-term friend and sidekick Squeezebox Wally enters next, and they run through You Remind Me (Thomas disturbingly changing the lyrics so that he's mistaken for Eddie McGuire of all people), before the rest of his band The Roving Commission hit the stage (along with Short) and power into All The Roads, also from new album The Last Of The Tourists. From here it's an equal concoction of the new and the nostalgic, as classic Weddings, Parties, Anything tunes (Rambling Girl, The Infanticide Of Marie Farrar, Knockbacks In Halifax, Rain In My Heart) nestle alongside solo Thomas material both old and new (The Cap Me Granda' Wore, Gallipoli Rosemary, The Clamorous Warbler), the rapturous fans loving all and sundry. The duet between Thomas and Short of Step In, Step Out is a highlight, as is the languid encore version of Away, Away – surely one of the most unheralded Australian classics of all time – and the obligatory rowdy closer A Tale They Won't Believe, which as always has fans jumping and bellowing along in unison as they're regaled with murderous tales from our convict past. One of our best-ever homemade talents is still at the top of his game, and life goes on...