Live Review: The Teskey Brothers, The Meltdown, Al Parkinson & The Babes

Al Parkinson & The Babes open the show. Parkinson's vocal tone brings Norah Jones and Fiona Apple to mind, but the band maintain the melody and pace of Australian surf-folk and blues. The backing vocal lines bring harmony to the performance.

The Meltdown — a six-piece, precision jazz-soul-blues band, continue warming the growing crowd. They play very well, adjusting these big-band standards for a contemporary audience. Simon Burke's voice doesn't cower under the shadow of the headline act to follow; Burke and Josh Teskey are both extraordinary vocalists.

Playing the last of four sold-out shows at this venue, The Teskey Brothers bring a celebratory energy to Corner Hotel. And the proof is in the quality performance of the two Teskey brothers (Josh and Sam), drummer Liam Gough, bass player Brendon Love, musical guests and an impressive, genuine, soul-reaching timbre.

The crimson Corner Hotel stage curtain opens and The Teskey Brothers are straight into their opening song Crying Shame. Shiny Moon is up next as The Teskey Brothers continue to draw material from their acclaimed Half Mile Harvest album. Sam Teskey plays slick, gritty guitar around his brother and the decades spent mastering their craft can be felt, deep down in our guts, while the other members nail the backing vocals. The band's biggest hit Pain And Misery is a signature southern soul number "for anyone who's been hooked on anyone or anything", as introduced by Josh Teskey.

Josh then introduces a cover, admitting it’s not the usual soul R&B "Stax Records" number, before citing Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway and Wilson Pickett as more usual suspects within their repertoire. Instead, The Teskey Brothers tackle Michael Jackson's The Way You Make Me Feel. The crowd loves it, singing and clapping along.

The band close the set with a great rendition of Otis Redding’s Hard To Handle and a jammy, strung-out, searing version of Honeymoon. It’s the perfect note to watch them fade to black, playing as they have done for a decade — sometimes to no crowd at all. The soul can be heard in the picking, in the jerking, in the drumming and the bass, and the entire ensemble harmonises with Josh Teskey's world-class pipes.