Perfect Tripod: Australian Songs

Inspired by coming together for a striking a cappella cover of Paul Kelly's Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air some years ago, Scod, Yon, Gatesy and their mate Eddie Perfect have fleshed out the concept into an hour-long tribute to some of the country's best singers and songwriters in the same genre.

At first glance, it's perhaps not the most accessible of shows: four blokes in suits doing barbershop Gotye. But it only takes one 'establishing' song to get the audience familiar with the concept before this remarkable show fairly Australian Crawls under your skin with a rousing rendition of Errol. Suddenly, it makes perfect sense.

Perfect and the Tripod boys soon ease into a cruisy banter between songs that lends the show an entirely appropriate laidback vibe – they're blowing into partially-empty beer bottles to tune up, and it doesn't come much more backyard Aussie barbie than that. The chuckles start to come thick and fast during the songs, too, as the boys bust out a little bit of seemingly spontaneous synchronised man-moves during Kylie's Better the Devil You Know, and Yon does some stockman miming during Lanie Lane's (Oh Well) That's What You Get (Falling in Love with a Cowboy). It's a playful show that displays just the right amount of reverence where necessary, but a healthy amount of urine extraction when merited.

Other tracks include the Bee Gees' How Deep Is Your Love (during which Scod good-naturedly cops it for his Gibb resemblance), a Cold Chisel medley; a version of Kasey Chambers' Not Pretty Enough that cuts through the dagginess to the heart of the song and soon silences the self-conscious chucklers; and the 'national anthem', John Farnham's You're The Voice, with Gatesy performing an enthusiastic vocal-only bagpipe solo by repeating only the words 'Johnny Farnham'.

The show's big finale brings in some participation, as Perfect masterminds splitting the audience into a three-part harmony at the end of Archie Roach's Little By Little. It's a lovely moment and gives the briefest of insights into what a mighty battle the tremendous arrangements of some of these songs would have been. 

It's often said that Tripod are underappreciated as musicians, and tonight showcases just how criminal an oversight that is. You'd be hard-pressed to find three –nay, four – more versatile voices in the country. As the performers themselves point out, a cappella might not be hip or cool but when it's applied to this material and with the wonderfully balanced tone of gravitas and comedy, it's eminently listenable. One hour and some change just doesn't seem enough time in the hands of these chaps.   

WHERE & WHEN: Brisbane Powerhouse until Saturday May 5