We All Want To

Published on April 24th, 2013

 

6819-04-13

We All Want To: Take The Lead! 19-4-13

Judith Wright Centre Brisbane

Led by Tim Steward, Brisbane icon and all round nice guy, We All Want To took over the Judith Wright Centre for the launch of their new album, Come Up Invisible. But this wasn’t any ordinary gig. Instead of Tim singing every song, the band decided to get a different Brisbane singer to ‘take the lead’ on vocals while performing the album in its entirety: a similar concept to what Triple J did with the Paul Kelly and Nick Cave tribute shows, but on a much more local and intimate level. Act One, Daz Gray from The Good Ship kicked off the evening with Already Too Late, the tune was pleasantly delivered and an excellent choice as an opener. The evening’s musical diversity was on display early with the addition of spoken-word poet, Ghostboy. His rendition of Ramp Up The Bleeding was moody and dark with an articulate poetic spin. He even brought his own flash cards: since the venue was The Judith Wright Center, props were definitely allowed. A shining version of No Signs was performed by Alastair McRae, a young lad with a powerful voice known for his work with Inland Sea. Jeremy Neale and Charles Sale served up double shots of youthful energy, making use of the whole stage, proving sometimes performance comes up trumps amongst the leather jackets and a sea of hair. Act one was rounded out with the slow burner Before The Accident. Dom Miller acquiring tambourine props in the process, while his comical persona contrasted the deep lyrical content of the song. He was followed by Hanna Shepard from Charlie Mayfair delighting us with A La Mode. Act Two The second act was introduced with Chris Dale and Seja Vogel performing Shine and a bouncy version of Automatic respectively. Chris Hetherington then tore through Firefighter. His renowned energetic persona that he displays in The Slow Push lit up the stage with vivacious vocals and jagged stage moves. My favorite moment of the evening was Helen Franzmann’s rendition of Japan. So hauntingly beautiful it made me take my focus from out behind the camera multiple times. If you haven’t heard her music -under the guise of McKisko – I encourage you to look it up. The last artist to ‘take the lead’ did so on guitar duties, and who better than Danny Widdicombe. Danny’s bluesy solo in Let’s Not Lose What We Had was absolutely brilliant, his knowledge of the fretboard reining supreme over the intricacies of Tim’s pedal board. After a few quick words from the MC all of the performers remerged to sing Streets Of Your Town. The encore instantaneously manifested itself into a party; The Go-Betweens cover getting the seated crowd to their feet as audience and musicians danced side by side to the Brisbane classic. The night was a fine showcase of Brisbane’s musicianship and it was hard to tell who was more thankful, Tim or the audience. It was a stellar night.

First Act. Already Too Late – Daz Gray (The Good Ship) Where Sleeping Ends – Ross Hope (Iron On) Ramp Up The Bleeding – Ghostboy No Signs – Alastair McRae (Inland Sea) I’m Still Waiting – Sue Ray Felt Like A Film – Sabrina Lawrie (Little Vegas) You Used To Be Funny – Jeremy Neale (Velolciraptor, Tiger Beams) Before The Accident – Dom Miller (Rocketsmiths) A La Mode – Hannah Shepherd/Everyone (Charlie Mayfair)

Second Act. Shine – Chris Dale (Halfway) Automatic – Seja Vogel (Regurgitator) Firefighter – Chris Hetherington (The Slow Push) We’re Not Perfect – Ed Gugliemino Japan – Helen Franzmann (McKisko) Back To The Car – Charles Sale (Babaganouj) Ramp Up The Bleeding- Jamie Hutchings (Bluebottle Kiss) Let’s Not Lose What We Had – Danny Widdicombe (The Wilson Pickers) Streets Of Your Town- Everyone (The Go-Betweens Cover) Head to www.weallwantto.com/gigs for information on the new ‘Come Up Invisible’ and their current No Signs EP tour.

Words and Photography By Thomas Oliver