Live Review: Marlon Williams, Ben Salter

The sold-out venue ensured that Ben Salter had a healthy amount of punters to play to when opening the evening’s proceedings. Salter is probably best known for his stints in Giants Of Science and The Gin Club, but he is well on the way to standing on his own with his second solo album, The Stars My Destination, under his belt. Salter’s strong baritone is his greatest asset and it was again at the forefront as he worked his way through tunes such as West End Girls, while using a foot pedal to provide percussion through a deftly placed tambourine.  

Although it was billed as a full band show, Marlon Williams made his way to the stage with his trusty guitar for a hearty run though Cocaine Blues, a song that may have been inspired by conversations with Justin Townes Earle during their tours together. The Yarra Benders had seen a change in personal for this outing and fellow New Zealand labelmate, Aldous Harding, joined Williams to offer harmonies on the melancholic The Lonely Side Of Her.

It didn’t take long for Williams to croon through a version of forgotten folk singer Bob Carpenter's Silent Passage, but not before taking off his shirt to reveal ‘scrawny’ arms that he joked would be ‘out of place on a Fremantle beach’. The highlight of the set came when Williams played some of the songs that written when teamed up with Delaney Davidson back in New Zealand. The Ballad Of Minnie Dean is the undoubtedly the greatest song ever penned about infanticide, whilst State Hospital and First There Was A Funeral continued the theme of illness and death.

The sustained vibrato that is Williams' greatest gift was unleashed during Heaven For You, before the more murky material such as Dark Child was given due diligence. Hello Miss Lonesome was played at breakneck speed with a shuffle like a freight train. Williams may have been aware that this line-up of The Yarra Benders was lacking in a lead guitar and played a set accordingly. It didn’t stop him from kicking out any cobwebs with a chunky take on Screaming J. Hawkins' Portrait Of A Man.

Originally published in X-Press Magazine