Live Review: Jon Toogood, Phil Bradley

Phil Bradley set the tone for the evening when a punter called out, "Are you Jon's dad?" He responded, "No, smart arse! I'm not!" and then went on to describe his songs as being "pretty uplifting" (with titles such as Broken, Faker & The Dark, and moody song Island Mouth) — so we all knew the night was going to be great.

While we enjoyed Phil's set, there was an air of anticipation surrounding the Rosemount's Four5Nine Bar as we eagerly awaited Jon Toogood's arrival to see what he would do as a solo artist.

The room was crowded and there were even people sitting down. He joked that he felt like he was at a folk show — Bob Toogood.

His first song was one that he co-wrote with Julia Deans, Everyday I Wake Up. It was that instant that he reminded us just how talented he is.

As a long time Shihad fan, it was great to find out the inspiration behind some of their songs (and also blaming the other three for the Pacifier name change). Run was written while at LAX Airport waiting to go home. The whole room sung along with Toogood — massive smiles on our faces.

If we thought we couldn't sing any harder or louder, we were mistaken. His next song was one that inspired him as a kid growing up in the '80s, Australian Crawl's Reckless. Toogood has a way of bringing the whole audience together and making you feel right at home — just friends sitting around, having a few too many drinks and singing the classics.

Just before the interval, Toogood did a cover of (What's The Story) Morning Glory. His guitar playing was so emphatic that he broke a string right before his favourite part. He had to stop, change guitars and continue, the whole room singing along with him.

After the interval, the hits just kept coming: Split Enz's I Got You, David Bowie's Suffragette City and Motorhead's Ace Of Spades on acoustic guitar before finishing with AC/DC's It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll).

Toogood may no longer be in his 20s but he still has all the moves and just infects the crowd with his energy, cementing his spot as one of our favourite frontmen. Until Shihad tours again, Toogood has left his audience sedate.