Since their cold reception to each other at their All Tomorrow’s Parties 2009 gig, it was interesting to see that Chris Bailey and Ed Kuepper seemed the complete opposite at the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club. Jovial and perhaps a little bit drunk (on Bailey’s part anyway), the most antagonistic the pair got was a few humorously timed jokes and the odd teasing comment.

The two founding members of iconic Brisbane punk band The Saints managed to entertain the crowd, armed with nothing more than an acoustic guitar, a couple of electrics, a bass and a stomp box. Bailey and Kuepper opened the show with an absolutely mesmerizing and captivating cover of Bob Dylan’s Ballad of Hollis Brown. Bailey’s vocals were not so much singing as melodically shouting out verses, as if he were a televangelist proselytising.

Their set-list comprised of songs from their days together in The Saints ( Erotic Neurotic ), the post-Kuepper Saints repertoire (Bailey’s Just Like Fire Would, In The Mirror, Photograph and A Gentleman Came Walking ) as well as a few jewels from Kuepper’s solo career ( Car Headlights and the catchy The Way I Made You Feel ).

But perhaps one of the finest moments during their dazzling set was their cover of The Kinks’ Last of the Steam-Powered Trains, with Kuepper’s husky vocals and stomp box talents propelling the song forward. Halfway through, the dynamic duo paused and Kuepper pointed at his stomp box, “It actually really hurts my foot to do this, while you are all sitting there comfortably… so I ask if you could provide a little percussion.” That was all the mighty guitarist had to say before the entire jazz venue started clapping their hands, stomping their feet and tapping their tables to help get that last train out of the station. Kuepper and Bailey ended their set with another cover: their interpretation of Stephen Sondheim’s Send in the Clowns, made famous by Judy Collins and Frank Sinatra.

Perhaps their newfound camaraderie had something to do with Bailey’s drinking habits of the night. All throughout the gig, a talkative Bailey was cheerfully working his way through a glass of wine and became slightly inebriated. Kuepper watched with a slightly haughty but amused demeanour as his pal had a mini fail moment, spilling his beverage over his guitar while muttering, “Shit! This is called the look-away-from-the-guy-who’s-doing-something, yak yak yak!” All the while, Kuepper sipped away at his water, later revealing that his only vices were coffee and cigarettes. The intoxicated Bailey spouted a few gems, like “We’re on the straight and narrow as opposed to my usual gay and twisty” or making fun of the Kuepper-designed stubby holders on sale at the merch desk. During one of Bailey’s between-song banter sessions, Kuepper cheekily started to make buzzing noises with his guitar lead to get him to shut up.

After rounds of raucous applause for an encore, they played Messin’ with the Kid from (I’m) Stranded, the very first Saints album that started it all. Things must’ve changed a little over time – a few bars in, Bailey started retuning his guitar and cried out, “Fuck, he does this one in a different key!”

The evening’s delightful performance had obviously whetted their Melbourne fans’ appetites, who are clearly not sated from Bailey and Kuepper’s sporadic gigs. As the duo tried to walk off stage for the second time that night, the rowdy fans started making hooting and hollering for just one more song. Kuepper, in keeping with his understated character, simply turned around and deadpanned, “We don’t know any more songs. Goodnight.”