The Whitlams @ Civic Square,Canberra (31/12/10)

Sun 2nd Jan, 2011 in Gig Reviews

In a smart move by the ACT Government, this year’s New Year’s Eve main musical drawcard in Civic Square, The Whitlams, was scheduled at the more family friendly time of 8 pm. A good crowd had assembled on the pavement, enjoying the sounds of Kiwi G beforehand, bringing with them rugs and small beach chairs, and a great deal of enthusiasm. Others in the crowd were perched upon the edges of the fountain and milled about, eagerly awaiting The Whitlams taking their place on centre stage. The band appeared to much cheering and the crowd was soon up on their feet singing and dancing along, young and old alike.

They started with arguably their most well-known tune, No Aphrodisiac, followed by the more recent Beauty In Me, in honour of those in the crowd that lead singer, Tim Freedman, had spotted “crossed legged” on their picnic rugs. In a treat for ballad lovers, the boys played the ever evocative Melbourne, followed by Ease of the Midnight Visit, with Freedman using the latter song as a cautionary tale for those older men who were thinking about “visiting their ex-wives in Belconnen at 12:30 tonight”.

Thankyou (for loving me at my worst) was up next, with the crowd enthusiastically cheering and calling their own thank yous back in response to the band. Royal in the Afternoon had everyone up and dancing, and Jak Housden’s soaring guitar solo elicited well-deserved cheers from the crowd. In a treat for the die-hard fans at the front, they played Love This City, a song that has had only a few live airings since its conception when Sydney won the 2000 Olympic games. This fact showed a little when Tim got a few lyrics tangled and sang “the girls are pretty and the brights are light,” eliciting a rather amused look from Housden. Freedman simply grinned, shrugged and pressed on without missing a beat, professional as always.

A pair of songs from some Canberra locals made a welcome showing with original band member Stevie Plunder’s rollicking number Following My Own Tracks and Bernie Hayes’ Made Me Hard. The first set was concluded with the much loved You sound like Louis Burdett, which, Freedman informed us, tongue-in-cheek, he had timed to perfection so that at the end of the last verse there would be fireworks to punctuate just how good the song really was.

The boys took a well-earned break and joined the crowd in watching the fireworks display that sparked and flared behind the stage on the hill in the middle of Vernon Circuit. On their return to the stage, the enigmatic front-man told the crowd that he remembered seeing fireworks at the Sydney Easter Show when he was 6 years old that were only about a tenth of that display and had been mightily impressed – I think that was his way of saying that Canberra’s NYE fireworks was slightly better!

The second set from The Whitlams played opened with Fall For You, another one for the ballad lovers, then the upbeat and catchy Year of the Rat. Keeping the crowd dancing, they launched into a funked up version of Met My Match which the interim drummer (regular drummer Terepai Richmond being conspicuously absent) managed very well to keep up with, complete with sheet music and much encouragement from the other band members. In a couple of songs, again without missing a beat, Freedman was heard to say “bridge!” for the drummer’s benefit.

Blow Up the Pokies came next, with the lovely Fondness Makes the Heart Grow Absent close behind. The crowd joined Freedman, now onstage alone as the others took a break, for one of their favourites in singing along to Buy Now Pay Later (Charlie no. 2), cheering wholeheartedly at its conclusion. The melancholy sweetness of Keep the light on was the perfect follow on for this song, with the other members of the band wandering on part way to join in.

Changing things up just a little, the band relaxed into Out the Back, with bass player Warwick Hornby making himself comfortable sitting on the side of the drummer’s platform as they played, smiling happily all the while.

The final three songs of the set were energetic and punchy, with the crowd getting behind the band, singing and dancing to perennial favourites I Make Hamburgers and Gough, and finishing off with I Will Not Go Quietly (Duffy’s song). The band left the stage to great applause and, despite much cheering for an encore, it was not to be. That said, there was no doubt that the crowd in Civic Square had enjoyed an excellent night of family friendly, free entertainment.