Live Review: Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield, Bambino Koresh

The obvious calling card for Sydney trio Bambino Koresh is the inclusion in their ranks of indie legend Tom Morgan (he of Smudge fame, and Evan Dando's co-writer during The Lemonheads heyday in the early-to-mid-'90s), but in reality he's just on bass here and the real highlight is frontwoman Leticia Nischang. The Argentinian dynamo is compelling as they offer tracks such as Crop Circles and Just Accept It from their debut album Up And Left, her phrasing during the poppy Terracotta Warrior intriguing, but the real highlight of this powerful introduction is when she and Morgan mesh their voices wonderfully during closer What I'm Gonna Do Now.

It's always hard to know what to expect from Evan Dando on any given tour – sometimes he's wild and erratic and others seemingly at peace with the world – and given that his long-term friend Juliana Hatfield has recently admitted to having hated the stage in recent years, tonight's pairing has an aura of intriguing unpredictability about it. Yet as they stroll into the fray armed only with guitars and their voices and address the packed throng with Dando's All My Life (the beautiful tune strangely penned by Ben Lee), any fears are instantly allayed: the lanky singer seems content – almost beatific – while Hatfield seems shy and reserved at first but gradually opens up as she warms to proceedings. They've both aged wonderfully – neither looking miles removed from how they did back in the day – and they offer up Hatfield's plaintive Butterflies next, setting a template for the performance; for the most part alternating between each other's songs, helping out while the other is in action but otherwise taking a back seat. It works wonderfully, the pair's voices and songs complementing each other naturally, whether on Dando's tunes (Hospital, Ride With Me, It's About Time, Paid To Smile, Kinda Sorta, Into Your Arms) or Hatfield's (Choose Drugs, Candy Wrappers, My Sister, Slow Motion). The tunes from the latter's brief tenure in The Lemonheads (It's A Shame About Ray, Bit Part, Down About It) sound complete with her vocal participation, and the duo combine wonderfully on a sterling rendition of Gram Parson's $1000 Wedding. At times they pull back completely and let the other carry the song, staying onstage and seeming stoked to just watch their friend in action from their prime vantage point; and other times they unite completely and it seems a fluid and easy partnership. When they finish to adulation with Drug Buddy and return for an encore of Velvet Underground's Pale Blue Eyes it's clear that the pairing has worked a treat, two strong songwriters and performers joining for a fascinating union at least as strong as the sum of its parts.