Live Review: Bob Evans, Emma Russack

Bob Evans aka Kevin Mitchell and friends have hit the road to celebrate the release of his latest release Full Circle. Joining him in support on the night was Emma Russack in the difficult opening slot. The venue’s intimate dinner and show atmosphere can be a bit soul destroying during the main course for an opening act but Russack took it all in her stride, working her way through songs which included many from last year’s excellent Permanent Vacation. Her set was a run of acoustic South Coast ballads infused with the honesty of Sarah Mary Chadwick and wrapped up with a healthy dose of Stan Getz. And although there was respectful chatter from the audience, this didn’t seem to impact what was a short but solid, sombre performance.

Expertly accompanied either side by the musically talented Clio Renner on piano and Esther Henderson on violin, this tour was touted as being a celebration and/or introduction to a world of songs spanning five albums and roughly ten years, rather than a best of, and from the opening three songs of Bob Evans, which included Suburban Songbook favourites Nowhere Without You and Friend, one got that sense this was true. 

Some insightful moments were shared in between tracks, like how a broken string at a show in 2011 during Hand Me Downs ended up becoming an actual lyric at subsequent gigs for the song after the suggestion was made by an audience member. There was also the story about how Luke Steele (of Sleepy Jackson/Empire of the Sun fame) contributed the "nah nah nahs" that feature heavily in The Hermit after a night of heavy drinking.

It wasn’t just the songs of the past decade or so that impressed us, it was also the sudden realisation of the subtle influences that shaped these tunes. For example, hearing For Today, which was included as part of a raffle draw where fans were able to request songs in real time, you could hear the influence of Tim Rogers shining through, or Billy Joel’s Piano Man on the harmonica part of Don’t You Think It’s Time?. Surprisingly, the plus one wife who was hearing these songs for the first time swore she could hear the wax lyrical of Rod Stewart appearing throughout.

Rarely does a performer express their gratitude with the same sincerity Evans did on the night, but there it was both expressly and implicitly. So here's to another ten years and many more songs.