Live Review: Phil Jamieson & Scott Russo

Legend has it that Phil Jamieson and Scott Russo have been tight since the 1999 Warped Tour. The Grinspoon and Unwritten Law front-men tested the market earlier in the year with two solo-duo shows which sold the frack out, so they’ve come back for more with an acoustic Christmas extravaganza!) 

What better corner of the world to kick off part two of their best-buds adventure than The Gov on a Wednesday night? (Maybe don’t actually answer that - The Gov is likely the best live music venue in the world, but Wednesday night? Come on guys, some of us have to work). The tables and chairs remaining in the raised area hinted to the early crowd that a mellow show was on the cards and so it came to be.

Under blue lights, in front of an edificial inflatable Christmas penguin (later introduced as Brad), a shabby-cum-dapper Phil Jamieson strolled onto the stage, tiny guitar in-hand, flat-snap-clip in-hair. He walked out strumming and hushed the settling crowd. 

Favourite Grinspoon tracks like Bad Funk Stripe, Hate and Comeback were reworked artfully to fit the unplugged format. No Reason became the night’s biggest sing-along and Jamieson’s jaunty harmonica textualised a super-nice version of Just Ace that hit the crowd right in the reminiscing centre of the brain.

Since Grinspoon came to prevalence in the late '90s, Jamieson has stood out as a big character in the Australian alt-music scene: the once bastard prince of addled garage flamboyance has developed into an incredibly polished and relaxed soft-rock gent.

After a brief break, Scott Russo wandered out; his black wide-brimmed felt hat, over a thin black hoodie adding an air of mystery to his appearance. He was in fine spirits but couldn’t disguise the nerves of a man unaccustomed to being alone in the spotlight. 

The slew of Unwritten Law tracks that Russo brought on stage were very close to their source material, so it was mostly power chords on the acoustic guitar under nasal American post punk vocals. Geronimo, Save Me and Cailin certainly resonated with the appreciative crowd and held their own with the intimate instrumentation.

As so often is the case in live music though, it’s usually best when everything goes horribly wrong: at one point Russo lost his lead, said ‘fuck it’ and finished up the bracket a capella - the crowd quieting just enough that you could hear the strumming of the unamplified strings.

The pair reappeared together for a final half dozen tracks, alternating between Grinspoon and Unwritten Law songs. They were very much at ease with one another and their genuine friendship and musical passion was heart-warming to observe. Some of the nicest moments of the set came as Russo and Jamieson worked in some call and response vocals over some well-layered guitar through Black Friday and More Than You Are. 
The tour continues on into some small venues in New South Wales up until just before Christmas so if you want to get some nostalgic feels into your holidays get along to these blokes.