There is no doubt that Powderfinger are red hot at the minute with tickets flying out the door at a great rate of knots even fetching a pretty penny on eBay, even for the Adelaide show at the infamous Thebarton Theatre.
This tour is unlike any other tour undertaken by Powderfinger with the band giving something back to the fans for their ongoing support and turning them into mega stars. Punters had the ultimate choice in their city by voting for their favourite Powderfinger songs with those polling the most votes determining the set list.
If having input to the set list wasn’t enough the band had come up with the novel idea to split the set in to two parts kicking off with an acoustic set returning after a short intermission to ‘rock the roof’ off the Thebarton with a full blown electric set.
Just the idea of Powderfinger going acoustic sold me alone as it was a great way to hear a fresh interpretation of some golden oldies as well as some more recent tunes in a stripped back mode.
Thebarton Theatre was buzzing with the sold out crowd eager to see what the set list would entail. Australia’s poster boys of rock ‘n roll hit the stage bang on 8.55pm to rapturous applause and as the lights hit the backdrop the lads pulled up stools and got stuck in to The Metre.
Was this set truly acoustic? Hmm, probably not! To me acoustic is simply that – no bass or full drum kit, just stripped back to the bare bones. It would have been great to see Cogsy pull out a set of brushes on just a snare drum and maybe JC could have played an upright bass. To me, sitting down doesn’t constitute acoustic but at the end of the day this set was still amazing.
The fresh interpretations of these songs were fantastic albeit with an alt-country bent and maybe a hint of a future musical direction for Powderfinger. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Waiting For The Sun, My Kind Of Scene and These Days would sound stunning no matter how they are played. The inclusion of Private Man and Hindley Street were rare inclusions in the set.
I thought the intermission dragged on a bit and the natives showed signs of getting restless. The lights dropped and Powderfinger were back rocking in to Stumblin’. I thought the set selection for the electric half was a little on the average side but the people had voted so there’s little justification for gripes although a few extra songs would have made up for it.
The hits were there with My Happiness and Passengers lifting the roof off the joint but for my money I really liked Up & Down & Back Again and Who Really Cares. There wasn’t a huge amount of interaction with the crowd leaving the music to do all the talking. The electric set was short and sweet leaving the crowd wanting more… in fact two more. Returning for an encore starting with Living Type, which is rarely heard these days and finishing off with On My Mind.
Overall a great show, which still would have been worth paying one hundred and fifty sobs on eBay for ticket. It does beg the question what Powderfinger will do next – play with a symphony orchestra or try their hand at death metal!
Set List:
Acoustic:
The Metre
Waiting For The Sun
My Kind Of Scene
Private Man
Lost & Running
Bless My Soul
Hindley Street
Nobody Sees
JC
Trading Places
These Days
Electric:
Stumblin’
Since You’ve Been Gone
Who Really Cares
Up & Down & Back Again
My Happiness
Passengers
Encore:
Living Type
On My Mind
