From Anne:

Thought I'd try and capture my impressions...

I've been to a few of the Vanguard gigs as a general admission, a couple last December and then in January. When I heard Russell and TOFOG2 were booked for another residency at the Vanguard, and actually ON MY BIRTHDAY!, I couldn't think of any better way of celebrating, so I booked the dinner/show option, with my sister.

April 11th - We were one table back from the stage, which was fabulous!

Food was great, a glass or two of champagne, lovely....

Mr Percival gets better every time I hear him, and his version of Ain't No Sunshine was absolutely killing. When is this man going to put out a CD or DVD or something? He actually sang a couple of songs as well as his extremely clever digital echo/loop thing that he does, sensational.

And - Thanks Darrin, for the birthday song, sung straight at ME, even by name (since we'd sort of met accidentally on the stairs before the show!!!).

Overall, this show was SO different to the December/January ones, and though I still loved every minute, there was almost none of the storytelling that had made the MHMH songs SO meaningful, and SO personal and gave an immense sense of intimacy to those earlier gigs in that tiny club. It was that sense of just spending a few hours in Russell's company hearing him tell stories of such personal relevance to HIM and how his songs came to be written, that overwhelmed me with the passion, the openness and the absolute authenticity of the MAN, the singer, the poet, the son, the friend, the lover, the husband, the father...This show was much more about the music and the band. The mix seemed to be more of the old TOFOG songs than the earlier gigs, (which included EVERY song on the MHMH CD, and such songs as Darby's Castle, Molly Malone, Easy and Free). The music this time certainly was about raising the energy (and volume!) level of the performance, and showcasing the band a bit more too. I missed the storytelling (chatting to Bones at the bar after the show, I made that comment to him and he said Russell's voice had tended to be a little croaky, so I guess it made sense if you had to limit yourself in one or the other, it would be the talk that had to be reduced. Not surprising when you think of the gruelling schedule they are putting themselves through though, for the last few months. It is such a shame though, because at the end of the day, the tour is about MHMH, and to NOT tell the stories behind the songs diminishes the amazing impact of them somewhat. The lyrics are SO good, particularly in the context of the bits of Russell's life and the emotions that prompted the writing of the songs, that it doesn't do them full justice for the band to just get up and sing them.

Through the night, Russell made a few references to the fact that the Rolling Stones were playing in Sydney that night, and that we were all a bit rebellious to be at the Vanguard listening to him instead of the Stones! And he did a very funny impersonation of a conversation he once had with Keith Richards! He also included his "Preacher", and Poseidon Adventure chat.

ANYWAY, without any greeting or anything, they went straight into a set of Miss My mind the most, Weight of a Man, Land of the Second Chance, and, with the now usual Walk on the Wild Side fugued nicely into Mickey (wish that had been the recorded version, I LOVE that..). But NO stories before any of them! Full Length of the River (I think it was) showcased the bad beautifully, especially the keyboard player, WOW! And drummer (WOW again) with Russell "fading" (?) into the background to allow them to indulge the music. Russell was clearly really enjoying the music going on around him as was the audience. The only sing-a-long bit last week was a very brief version of the "Christmas Carols in the Domain" tongue-in-cheek Take me in your mouth. Ha! It was great to see some of the audience react to that! He began by saying "This is the part of the show where I talk about body parts, so if anyone gets offended, this might be a good time for a bathroom break. I might for example, mention....(pauses, smiling)..."Mouth". Now some of you might get offended at that....He got everyone singing along quite well to the introductory bit, and anyway - after that, he slipped easily into the "Now we'll see how well you can clap along" going straight into "Swept away Bayou' - one of my favourites! Then straight into Raewyn - of ALL songs not to be introduced by the "how it came to be written"!!! Painted Veil, (and asking were there any Somerset Maugham fans in the audience - a few hands went up. "Oh good, a literary crowd" Russell said wryly) and One Good Year. Told a very cute story about his dad Alex trying to get a job at age 45, and told he was too experienced. Alex said to the interviewer, "Well, OK, what would you like me to forget?" - Russell played guitar on WYWMTF, and then went straight on into Folsom. I LOVE their version of this, and I just HAVE to get up and dance - I was only one of about three, though. Russell didn't invite people to dance as he had done for all the other shows I'd been to, and maybe too without the chat between songs, there was less of a connection between him and the audience that night too? Anyway, my feet just can't keep still for some of those TOFOG songs, so I didn't let anything stop ME getting up!

Another Girl, Testify. And then we did manage to get them out - for ONE encore only. Mr Harris (Thank goodness he told the story for THIS one, it is a wonderful tribute to a loved friend - though a slightly abridged version, but still told with Russell's inimitable humour and obvious affection for the man). The boys sang this a capella - previously, Dave had accompanied with the drums - which was GREAT. But a capella was unbelievably haunting, and Stu's voice in particular soaring and perfectly balancing the depths of Russell's. Breathless - again, one of my absolute favourites and becoming more so every time I hear it - especially since I read just recently that it is a song, "a prayer", that Russell has been singing to Charlie ever since he was tiny...And finally the live version of Barry Kable - I had only ever heard the VERY ballad version on BLOC, so this was of course a very different version of another particular favourite of mine, and I LOVED it. An absolute fantastic night again of course - despite my missing Russell's storytelling and chat, and the fact that at times I felt the sound mix "lost" some of the trumpet, and didn't do justice to Russell's voice - which especially in the MHMH songs, is beautiful - deep timbred, husky at times, passionate and full of emotion always....

April 18th - I was up on the Mezzanine last night - Guys, guys, guys - what the hell happened with Mr Percival last night????? He came on, did a couple of little bits and pieces, probably the only song of any real length was Ain't no Sunshine (but this was not as good as last week's version, sorry Darrin!). And then he seemed to leave before he'd even really started??? He always warms the audience up REALLY well too, I feel.??? We were all a bit puzzled There was then a LOOONG period of nothing much happening, and a couple of guys came on stage doing a very prolonged sort of sound check, then THEY disappeared for about an hour (or so it seemed!). Those of us who had been at the Vanguard before all agreed it was a pretty unprofessional "support act" set up. FINALLY those same two guys came on and did a couple of songs - which were pretty good, but I think most of the audience was a bit over it after the wait with nothing much happening musically at all for so long.

Turned out these guys were Canadian and will be at the Vanguard over the coming weeks - I didn't catch the singer's name (with the hat over the bandana) but the keyboard player was Mr Lonely. There was then another pretty long break before - at last - Stand by your Man came on (Has anyone found out why that song has appeared as a regular just before Take the Weather? I'm fascinated), Take the Weather of course - and then TOFOG and Russell packed themselves once again onto that tiny stage.

I didn't get a set list from last night so might get the order of songs wrongs and miss some out. Anyway, I'll do my best!

I felt a greater connection happening between Russell and the audience last night compared to the 11th. AND - there was a bit more chat through the night...I just love that. They opened with Darby's Castle (which has been missing from the last few gigs I've been to, and I love their version of that.) It set the tone for the night which, to me, seemed to be a return to a bit more balance between the ballad type music of MHMH, and the rock'n'roll of previous TOFOG stuff....Weight of Man, he introduced by saying "this is a song written for my darling wife. But just for tonight, I'll dedicate it to all the wives in the audience....(greeted by a happy gurgle of giggles, obviously from all us "wives")..(pause).."or those who are about to become wives. This song is as much a warning as it is a tribute"...the sound seemed better balanced last night, unless being on the Mezzanine and not right up against the speakers downstairs may have been what was making the difference to me!

My friend with me had never heard Russell sing before, and turned to me and commented, "I don't think I've ever seen him look as tidy! And you can really hear the PASSION in his voice can't you?" Land of the Second Chance (one of my particular favourites, as I am the daughter of an Italian who came out to Australia as a Prisoner of War, and ran away rather than be expatriated after the war was over, because to him Australia was totally the Land of the Second Chance. I hear Papa throughout that whole song, and of course in Mario's story behind it - which wasn't told last night.....).

No Mickey last night!!! Full Length of the River - again the big musical interlude - this time Russell moved his ashtray and port off the table, and sat to enjoy the music, sipping his drink, smoking, clicking his fingers and nodding his head to the fabulous bluesy/rock music. Had the story of his father again, with the addition of "Every 99 out of 100 misses, but then just once in a blue moon he'll hit the target....(pause)...my father has a shit sense of humour. Danni sometimes tell me I have the same sense of humour as my father. I wish that were a compliment..." and into WYWMTF. Last night was the first time I heard the whole story behind Barry Kable (which I am loving more and more as the live version). Last night's version of the sing-a-long to Take me in your mouth was a little more drawn out and playful, and the LOOK on his face when he delivered that line was SO cute, and SO mischievous....wonderful. AND we also got to sing along with Easy and Free again last night, that had been missing from a few of the last concerts I've been to, and I enjoyed it a lot. I have to say, the crowd was actually quite tuneful on the last chorus, and Russell graciously thanked us for it...Again, only one encore. Mr Harris was done for the first time without the story!!! But again a capella, was beautiful. No Breathless last night!!

It was a wonderful night. Afterwards, I hung around at the bar and had the pleasure of chatting to Bones, Stu, Chris and Dean for a while.

Every one of the band members are so unassuming and natural, it is a pleasure to have been able to actually have the chance to not just enjoy the fabulous music, but to get to know them in some small measure too.

Plus met a couple of lovely ladies from Canberra. Bruno graciously AGAIN allowed me to impose on him to take some CD's backstage for Russell to sign (I now have the complete TOFOG collection!). I have to say here, I appreciate Bruno's patience and courtesy, it is always SO warm and generous. I also had the opportunity to have a little chat to Russell's beautiful niece Chelsea (those stunning eyes!). She is a delight! I asked he if she enjoyed having such a famous uncle and she smiled and said yes. When I asked what he was like, she said simply and from the heart "He's lovely. And just an ordinary bloke". There could be no higher accolade for a man than that....