The Tivoli, Brisbane
Thursday November 10, 2016 :
Bernard Fanning could be considered a local at The Tivoli Brisbane. Performing there more than 20 times, both with his iconic band, Powderfinger, and as a solo artist. This sold out; Thursday night show seemed to bring out all the teenagers of the ’90s, keen to reminisce with the voice who sound tracked their youth.
Bernard took to the stage in a low key manner and opened his set with the beautiful acoustic song ‘Unpicking a Puzzle’. The crowd fell respectfully silent as his iconic voice filled the venue as it has done so many times before. Looking as comfortable as ever on stage Bernard joked with the crowd about how nobody bought his last album, they merely streamed it once, clearly showing his disdain for the direction music distribution is going.
When The Black Fins took the stage to accompany Bernard, the set became decidedly more upbeat. They performed a number of tracks off his acclaimed solo album Tea and Sympathy, including ‘Songbird’, ‘Not Finished Just Yet’ and ‘Which Way Home’, the last of which, somehow turned into the riff from a classic Black Sabbath song, ‘Iron Man’. The first Powderfinger song to be played was ‘Sail The Wildest Stretch’ from the band’s final album Golden Rule. The crowd erupted at the realisation that he wasn’t against playing songs from the band’s rich back catalogue.
Bernard opened the encore with his hit ‘Wish You Well’ before closing out the night with the Powderfinger anthem ‘These Days’ which then progressed into the Prince song ‘Purple Rain’. The perfect way to end an evening with one of Australia’s most loved singer songwriters.
At 48 years old, Bernard Fanning is still doing what he loves and does best, and that is playing beautifully arranged rock and folk songs. His voice seems to be getting better with age, and I am confident that this won’t be the last time that we see him on The Tivoli stage.
Reviewer and Photographer : Chris Ward
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