Live Review: Bill Callahan, David Quirk

Local comedian David Quirk steps onstage to the bemusement of any audience members expecting another singer-songwriter.

He acknowledges this before quickly transitioning into material about the concept of dog years and why relationships are like bushfires. Quirk has fun with a clearly fake story about his train ride to the venue tonight, before asking for feedback on which bits to cut for future sets. The comedy/music line-up used to be quite common but seems to have fallen out of favour. It's unfortunate because the two art forms complement each other so well, especially with someone like Bill Callahan, whose appreciation of humour and the spoken word is so evident.

As Bill Callahan and guitarist Matt Kinsey emerge for their 7pm performance, a woman near the front calls out, "I love you, Bill!" "You love me already?" he says. "I'll try to maintain that for the next, uh, 40 years." Callahan has yet to play a note and his wit and rich baritone are already on display. It's only uphill from there as Callahan begins plucking the opening notes of Jim Cain on his nylon string classical guitar.

Tonight's set draws largely from Callahan's unimpeachable 2009-2013 dream run, with a couple of songs from his Smog days (Rock Bottom Riser, I'm New Here) sprinkled in. Callahan stands stoic, his wandering eyes carefully considering his audience. Kinsey is seated, poring over his Gibson SG. Kinsey's varied and versatile playing — by turns shrieking and sighing, whimpering and wailing — adds immensely to Callahan's songs. Using only these guitars, the two men bring to life Callahan's understatedly diverse catalogue. Few musicians have cultivated such a unique and distinctive take on the acoustic troubadour.

The audience is treated to patient and faithful renditions of recent highlights like Spring and Ride My Arrow. Unlike many folksingers, Callahan could conceivably have been a man of the land in another life, which adds to his conviction when singing songs like Drover and Too Many Birds. The deceptively jaunty America! is given an extended, possibly improvised coda. The beautiful, funereal Riding For The Feeling is, of course, sublime. Callahan also covers Walk That Lonesome Valley by The Carter Family, a simple, old country song which in his inimitable hands simply becomes a Bill Callahan song. Anyone who came expecting new material was mistaken, but it's hard to imagine any fan could leave disappointed. Tonight's performance should maintain this audience's love for him for at least a few more years.