Review and Photos by Peter Coates
Walking up Enmore Road to the venue, thinking about the 20 or more years since the two massive Live albums had left their mark on adult, contemporary rock music, and noting the ticket prices, there was a thought that this might be a somewhat “intimate” show – shows how switched on I must be – the Enmore was packed at 8.30pm enjoying the solo guitar ballads of Anita Lester from Lester The Fierce.
A fairly minimalist stage and lighting set up, and a roar as the house lights dimmed and the intro kicked in… and the band strolled onto the stage and kicked in to the Throwing Copper album in track order… from “The Dam at Otter Creek” all the way through to “Horse/Untitled”. Ed Kowalczyk picked up a guitar for “Selling the Drama” and the huge “I Alone”, before leading the first of many crowd sing-alongs with “Lightning Crashes”.
The sound was more raw and gutsy than the more polished recorded versions, but performed by a really honest and tight three-piece band behind the front man – particular mention goes to Chris Heerlein on Bass and Backing Vocals, and Zak Loy on lead guitar, who looked young enough to have been born after the Live albums were first released. The power of the band was released on “All Over You”, and the huge slabs of power chords in the middle section – the band nailed it!
“Shit Towne” showed some good light and shade, driven along by Ramy Antoun on the kit, and featured another blistering solo from Zak, getting the crowd to bounce along to the chorus. “T.B.D.” maintained the laid-back feel until yet another wailing solo with some extended feedback into the punky “Stage” which saw Ed Kowalczyk at his most animated around the stage.
Another enthusiastic singalong for “Waitress”, and then a minor drop in intensity through “Pillar of Davidson” and the first half of “White, Discussion”, until the band blitzed through the rest of the song into an unashamedly over the top ending. Horse/Untitled”, the album closer, featured Zack on lap slide guitar.
And that was Throwing Copper – Anita Lester then joined Ed Kowalczyk for a duet of “All That I Wanted” from the new album, followed by a semi-acoustic version of “Run To Water” to close the set proper.
After a short break, another intro tape, and the band crashed into cracking version of “Lakini’s Juice”, the first single from Live’s follow-up album to Throwing Copper, Secret Samahdi – with an almost industrial rock feel to it. Another new song, the new single “Seven” from The Flood And The Mercy, and then one for the ladies, “Heaven” from the Birds of Pray album. Ed K does not have the strongest voice in music, but has a distinctive quality that has been retained since the early 1990’s when Live were in their heyday.
One of the crowd had been getting louder and louder with her “Take your shirt off Ed” screams from the back…….and after his solo single “Grace”, the expected finale of “The Dolphin’s Cry” was prefaced with a more masculine shout of “Take your shirt off for my wife Ed!” The finale lacked a bit of power with only the one guitar, but the sold-out crowd couldn’t have cared less and the ovation at the end was enormous.
Review and photos by Peter Coates – Inside Edge Photography – for Life Music Media
