10th June 2007, by Geoff Skinner
For those who ventured out to attend this
concert on one of the coldest nights of the year, they were more
than well rewarded by Rosa and Graham ready to entertain, and
obviously loving this reunion of musical friendship, that has
existed for many years.
For Rosa, the first time she has performed at the club for four
years and if there were any nerves they didn't show, as she
rattled through some old and new songs with consumate ease.
Graham as usual, a wizard on guitar and always complementary with
his vocals, set the backdrop for both of them to play up a storm
with two well-honed sets.
The music was a selection of material that told of requited love,
betrayal, lost innocence, and a whole raft of other subjects that
songwriters of this calibre have permission to sway us with.
Stand out songs for me were Broken Hearts, Breath, a gorgeous
evocative slow ballad that was new to me, Passer By and When I
Fall one of Rosa's own songs that has a catchy Latin American
rhythm and I'm hoping she will record. Street Dealer is another
favourite of mine and always makes me smile as the first time I
heard it I couldn't get the melody out of my head as it sounded
like a poppy toothpaste commercial with a really sinister
message. One of those tunes that your brain has programmed from
day one. Other stand outs were the traditional Storms Are On The
Ocean with Rosa on autoharp, my favourite version of Paul
McCartney’s Wanderlust and a song about a famous hooker
from Melbourne (whose name escapes me) with the great line "A
lift for a lady/ give her a ride".
Graham as usual played some stunning instrumentals, none finer
than a tune he had learned from the great guitarist Leo Kottke
called Poor Boy. A stomping piece played with sizzling dirty
steel and driving beat that absolutely cooked. Here was a man
surely loving his work. Moments later it was an instrumental
version of Don McLean's Vincent played with feather light
harmonics and the sensitivity of a surgeon. The bonus for me,
however, played on ukulele and crooned by Christchurch's latest
lounge lizard "Shuffles Wardrop" the old standard, I’ll See
You in my Dreams. His skill has never ceased to amaze me and I've
come to the startling revelation the only reason I don't play
guitar like him is that he makes his own instruments and he puts
in a lot more chords than I have on mine!
This review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning two
songs that just stopped me dead in my tracks. The first, a song
penned by Graham called Galleries. A long time in the making it's
a gentle song that tells of reflections of life on canvas, the
human face behind the masks we all wear and somehow celebrates
life and humanity. The other, a poem written by the great
Australian poet George Essex Evans, called Women Of The West put
to music by Graham and sung as a duet with Rosa. Firstly, it has
one of the most audacious key changes ever written that works a
treat, and some lines that freeze frame images as you listen. Try
"The white bush holds the secrets of their longing and
desire/when the white stars in reference light, behold the alter
fires..."
As I walked back to my car in a cosy wee haze I reflect on a
stunning night of music, one that was close to mirrored twenty
years ago in the Great Hall. As Gerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
once sung, "What a loooong, strange trip it's been" and for those
more astute readers, reviewing this concert has been a rare treat
for this old dude.