Live Review: Andrew Stockdale, The Bob Harrow Band

The Bob Harrow Band kicked off the night's quirky proceedings, serving up a series of placid, folksy numbers that harked back to a slow country sound from the Deep South and did a good job of pleasantly disarming the crowd. 

An unremarkable opener to the set began with Andrew Stockdale rarely lifting his eyes from the floor, while those in the audience concentrated their gazes on the costumes of his band which consisted of a long haired, floral shirted hippy bass player beamed straight from the '60s, and a drummer in a vintage black leather jacket and baggy cap who all appeared glued to the ground.

Finally (!) Stockdale started making eye contact with the crowd, as the band exploded into Woman. Energy levels and tempo now on overdrive. 

The simple unmistakable strumming of White Unicorn preceded the heavy bass kick, the crowd now won over as the fuzzy-haired front man harmonized to the thunderous drum solo climax.  

“I'll change the vibe here, play an acoustic set” Stockdale announced half way through his 90 minute performance, while his drummer took to the front with a mouth organ and a guitar was swapped for a tambourine. Stockdale grabbed his acoustic, delivering two superb blues numbers in a show otherwise defined by '70s rock haze and modern distortion effects. In the midst of it all, an excited fan jumped on stage and shouted “It's Andrew Stockdale! It's rock'n'roll!” just to remind anyone who might have been in doubt, while pulling the bemused front man close with one hand and taking a photo with another before disappearing back into the crowd. Inspired by the melee, Stockdale ripped off his own sign, threw it into the crowd and took a few moments to strum the shows end before finishing with The Joker And The Thief to thunderous applause, lifting his guitar over his head.