Words and Pics: Ben Hosking – www.hoskingindustries.com.au
Having missed all but the closing bars of opening act, Victoria’s Ryan Meeking & The Few thanks to the perpetual and chronic lack of parking in Sydney’s Newtown and Enmore areas; I got into the warm and cosy confines of the iconic Enmore Theatre just before San Francisco chart botherers Train took to the stage.
Formed in 1994, the group shot to fame with their smash ‘Drops of Jupiter’ – a track that won them two Grammy awards and made the album double platinum in the US. After a three-year hiatus, the band returned with its latest album, ‘Save Me San Francisco’ in 2009 and is currently owning the Aussie charts with the single ‘Hey, Soul Sister’. Now that we all know who they are, it was a surprise to see the Enmore at less than capacity, considering that it isn’t the biggest venue in the city. Regardless, it was a pretty busy evening, with the audience full of well-dressed folk of wildly disparate ages- mainly female and in very fine voice each time vocalist Patrick Monahan pulled a rock move or hit a high note.
Train originally formed around three core members and tonight’s show clearly reflects that, with all the attention focused on singer Monahan, drummer Scott Underwood and guitarist Jimmy Stafford – supporting members placed at the back of the stage and rarely referred to.
Regardless, Train are entertaining. Monahan refused to stand still; stalking the stage from one end to the other while smiling at the audience and taking photos of himself with fan’s cameras from the stage’s edge. Stafford swapped guitars between each song, cutting an imposing figure in his military-styled jacket and polished skull. They’re happy to get as close to their fans as they can, foregoing a crowd barrier as flailing arms and hungry hands grasp desirously from the dance floor below.
As you could imagine with a gig headlined by a chart-topping international band, the crowd erupted each time one of their hits started blasting from the Enmore’s front-of-house – especially tracks like ‘Drops of Jupiter’, ‘Calling All Angels’ and ‘Hey, Soul Sister’. Train possess a distinct soul element to their sound that’s emphasised in the live realm. Not a bad achievement for a bunch of white guys from San Fran.
Their first Australian tour since 2003, Train show that they’re here to make up for lost time and prove that age and experience make for an extremely well executed performance. They’re big on crowd interaction too, at one point bringing six young ladies up onto the stage to help (poorly) sing a song with Monahan. There’s plenty of banter throughout and the audience laps up every minute.
Train were only here for three shows on the east coast, before heading off to New Zealand and then onto countries abroad. But they left no one disappointed; covering all their hits, near hits and misses in a concert that should see the Enmore at capacity next time they visit our shores.