The Waifs @ HiFi, Melbourne(05/02/09)

Sun 8th Feb, 2009 in Gig Reviews

The Waifs have been performing for almost twenty years, and certainly have the music pedigree to match. Any band that was personally hand-picked by Bob Dylan to open for his American tour, has won four ARIAs and are sittting on multiple platinum albums must be doing something right. And they certainly showed why, by playing to not one but three full houses on consecutive nights at Melbourne’s presitigious Hi-Fi Bar and Ballroom.

The Waifs’ opening act Jez Mead was a perfect match for their brand of folk rock and country music. A prime example of a true musician, Jez seemed to be so caught up in the music and totally consumed by his craft, that he came onto stage still wearing sunnies and forgot to introduce himself before his set. Jez had a quiet stage presence, but his opening instrumental piece was so intense and passionate that he caught the attention of everyone in the house. He did bear slight similarities to Bert from Mary Poppins, because of his insane ability to singlehandedly carry off vocals, harmonica, guitar and drums simultaneously. His complex, flameco-inspired guitar riffs, laidback singing and simple but driving percussion so impressed the crowd, that this reviewer even heard someone say, ‘He shouldn’t be the opening act, he should be the act’.

The crowd sufficiently warmed up, The Waifs wandered onstage to a full house eager for more music and they did not disappoint. This is a band that plays like a family (ignoring the obvious ties between sisters Donna and Vikki Simpson), joking and having conversations on stage. It seemed an intimate affair, with the audience being afforded a glimpse into their world. This was made even more so with the band giving personal anecdotes and explanations for each song. After London Still, Donna Simpson laughed at the fact that people thought she was the stereotypical Australian singer-songwriter who moves to London for several years. She then revealed that this song was written after she’d been in the British capital for a mere two days! Later on, Vikki Simpson dedicated Sundirtwater to her husband, jokingly complaining that he was meant to be front row centre, but had probably wandered off and was enjoying a beer at the bar. Nevertheless, she performed a jazzy rendition of this song, accompanied only by Ben Franz on bass.

A highlight of the night was their camp, musical-style rendition of Sunflowers, where Donna Simpson, Vikki Simpson and Josh Cunningham squished around a tiny mic adorned with real sunflowers (given by adoring fans in the front row) with Josh strumming on a tiny ukelele. The band later quipped that perhaps a musical was in the works, since even Warnie has one! By the time Vikki started the harmonica on Crazy Train, the entire crowd got into the spirit. Never has Hi-Fi Bar felt or looked so much like a hoe down in a country town before.

With almost twenty years of songs to chose from, clearly the Waifs had trouble deciding which ones to play and extended their set to a two-hour show. Fans were thrilled to have not one, but two encores from the band. For the second encore, Vikki starting performing Spotlight only to be interrupted halfway through by a man (presumably her husband Matthew) bringing a birthday cake onstage. The entire crowd sang Happy Birthday to Vikki before the band went backstage to continue the celebrations.

SEE THE PIX FROM THE SHOW HERE