Civic Theatre, Newcastle
Friday October 21, 2016 :
With thirty years of experience playing Newcastle stages and a third solo record under his belt, veteran Aussie songsmith Bernard Fanning dropped by a sold-out Civic Theatre on Friday night for what would be a diverse, career-spanning set featuring tracks from his new record Civil Dusk, his Powderfinger days, as well as a couple of others by the Steve Miller Band and Prince.
From intimate ballads to rollicking blues, the set ranged, as Bernard put it, from Terry Alderman to Mitch Johnson pace, beginning with the gentle ‘Unpicking a Puzzle’ off Bernard’s latest record, before the Black Fins joined in for ‘Blue Toowong Skies’, the ode to his late brother and their childhood in suburban Brisbane from 2013’s Departures.
By the third track of the night, ‘Hope and Validation’, we’d hit Johnson pace, as promised, and a slew of upbeat offerings both old and new soon followed, getting bums off seats and throwing the talents of Black Fins guitarist Andrew Morris and violinist Sallie Campbell into the spotlight. Crowd favourite ‘Songbird’ featured a show-stealing violin solo courtesy of Campbell while Morris led the way as the moody ‘Not Finished Just Yet’ gave rise to immensely satisfying bluesy jams midway through the set.
There was a rare outing of Powderfinger’s ‘Sail the Wildest Stretch’, played acoustic and unaccompanied, a cover of the Steve Miller Band classic ‘Jet Airliner’, which saw Morris on lead vox and throughout, Bernard was a jovial delight, indulging the crowd with witty stage banter and stories of his many years visiting “Newie” including a few wild nights spent at the Bar on the Hill.
Skipping the traditional “bullshit” encore, the night wrapped up with the whole crowd on their feet for ‘Wish You Well’, a stunning rendition of ‘Watch Over Me’ that featured Bernard alone on stage on keys, and, finally, a surprising mash up of Powderfinger’s ‘These Days’ and ‘Purple Rain’. After a near two-hour set, Bernard signed off with a promise to return in the New Year with a brand new record that’s apparently already half way done.
Reviewer : Amelia Parrott
Photographer : Courtney Laura