Live Review: The Bad Shepherds, Seavera

Young Brisbane songstress Seavera arrives on stage with no introduction or fanfare, but quickly lets her voice and finger-picked acoustic guitar do the talking.  For a relatively new performer – she's yet to release her debut EP – she has a confident stage manner and most importantly, well-constructed songs and a soaring voice reminiscent of Laura Marling.  Standouts include Retract, Bones and Dusty City.
As soon as The Bad Shepherds take to the stage, the crowd assembles front and centre, only to be told by singer/mandolin player Adrian Edmondson: “No, we're not ready yet. There's no green room here … we're still pretending we're in the green room.  Right, we're here now.”  After a couple of minutes' strumming, it becomes clear the band are playing Anarchy In The UK, which incidentally has never sounded so well-arranged. Although a fair proportion of the audience are no doubt here because of the frontman's comedy background, by the time The Bad Shepherds have started playing their well-worn cover of I Fought The Law, it's pretty clear that virtuoso Uilleann pipes player Troy Donockley is the backbone of the band, with the versatility of his instrument a large reason the band works as a three-piece. New recruit Teri Bryant's percussion accompaniment helps hold it all together without ever becoming overbearing.  
Edmondson is in a typically jovial mood tonight, introducing a surprisingly faithful rendition of Wreckless Eric's Whole Wide World by telling the crowd  “a lot of people think punk songs are just three-chord wonders; this next song proves them wrong – it's only two chords.”  The arrangement applied to Road To Nowhere renders it almost unrecognisable and although it dispenses with the original's melodic hooks, the band make it their own with what can best be described as a folk breakdown. After the song, one particularly loud punter standing side of stage who has been talking through the songs is singled out by Edmondson, who lets her know she has ”a particularly loud voice” and asks if she might like to stand up the back of the room.  When she replies “some people tell me I've got a loud voice,” Edmondson quickly retorts, telling her “well, maybe some people are right,” much to the crowd's amusement. Next up, the band rip through The Jam's Down At The Tube Station At Midnight and The Specials' Friday Night, Saturday Morning.  
The remainder of the set includes rearranged renditions of songs such as Ace Of Spades, Our House and London Calling and wraps up with a fantastic take on Talking Heads' Once In A Lifetime. The trio then melodramatically gather behind a coat before re-emerging, Edmondson gesturing behind the stage, saying “as you've probably spotted, there's nothing back there but toilets.” The band then launches into a two-song encore of Girlfriend In A Coma and White Riot. Although there's undeniably a novelty element to the band, the quality of the musicianship and respect for the source material make it impossible to dismiss The Bad Shepherds as a gimmick.  As one punter puts it, “It's like they're playing folk standards but you know all the words.”