Billy Bragg & Joe Henry took the Opera House off its sails and onto the railway tracks of America for a few hours tonight.
The collaboration concert comes off the back of their recent record Shine A Light, a collection of folk songs with train themes captured as they rode across the US. As you'd expect with two folk devotees, there was just as much explaining of the music's context as there was music itself - a glorious informal education into Americana blues and what they called "a reclaiming of folk and our cultural vocabulary".
Henry, the American producer and writer, is less familiar to Australian audiences than Bragg, and when he took the stage solo before the interval there was a little need for introductions (something he allowed for with a live "Ask Me Anything" section). He delivered original songs and covers with charm and a rich vibrato, all the while gently apologising for what's currently happening at home.
After the break it was Bragg's turn for a solo spot, beginning with a glorious reworking of The Times They Are A-Changin' (remodelled to The Times They Are A-Changin' Back). Equal rights, equal pay, climate change and refugee issues - all delivered with that distinctive directness that makes Bragg so irresistible.
Also apologising for home (this time over Brexit and the newly announced general election), he dedicated Accident Waiting To Happen to Theresa May, saying "Honestly, I thought the shit had already hit the fan - I didn't know there was any more shit, but here we go."
They finished the set together again with more from Shine A Light, including songs from Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie and others, while also sneaking in "a few train songs we missed out on by still really love". Their final song, Guthrie's Ramblin' Round, was made contemporary - its focus a lost soul trying to find his way in an empathy-less environment, just as poignant now as it was when it was written.
