Ash Grunwald @ The FremantleArts Centre, Perth (08-04-11)

Mon 11th Apr, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Slide guitars, harmonicas, and Delta blues so raw it left you with chafing the next day. That was the tone of Ash Grunwald’s second of two Perth shows at the Fremantle Arts Centre on Friday night.

The small stonework courtyard within the Arts Centre was soon filled as punters excitedly filed in, in anticipation for the sold out show. The cool autumn evening had many audience members rugging up, bringing picnic blankets and bottles of wine and setting themselves up under the stars to brave the chilling evening breeze.

While audiences settled themselves in, the Fremantle-based bluesmen Matt Cal and Chris Parkinson commenced the night’s festivities. Playing unadulterated outback blues, harmonica and all; the duo’s stripped-back performance demonstrated what blues is all about, as Eric Clapton said: “one man and his guitar against the world”. Nestled among Cal’s original songs was a tender and euphonious rendition of Men at Work’s Land Down Under. Towards the close of their set the duo introduced a djembe player, adding a subtle tonality to the minimalist style of Cal and Parkinson.

With the conclusion of Matt Cal’s performance came a titillating foreshadowing of Ash Grunwald’s impending arrival. Saying, “We came in for the sound check and Ash and his band were warming up, and they were awesome.” Keen-eyed spectators spotted Grunwald’s band snaking their way through the audience.

The stage was set; the lights were on; the microphones checked. All that remained was Grunwald. The dread-locked Melbournite walked out on stage to whoops and cheers. His laid-back and jovial demeanour was perfect for the intimate setting. Grunwald picked up an acoustic guitar and explained to the audience, “I think this is the right context to have a little fun and play a few blues songs.” as he launched into Walking Blues and Love In Vain by Robert Johnson with a voice that radiated the whiskey-soaked blues of the Mississippi Delta.

It was rustic blues meets electronica; the pounding, rhythmic electro beats were juxtaposed by an eclectic collection of percussion in the form of congas, djembe, car doors and metal buckets. The mundane were used alongside the bizarre in an amalgamation that created an unparalleled texture and diversity within Grunwald’s songs.

Up until this point the audience had been quite content to sit on the grass and enjoy the show, however coaxed by implicative remarks about the crowd’s complacency by Grunwald: “We’re gonna perform quality music regardless of the position of your booty, that’s our guarantee.” The audience transformed into a company of revellers dancing and Grunwald jeering good-naturedly.

Highlights of the performance included Matt Cal and Chris Parkinson joining the band for a jam and a performance of the Howlin’ Wolf classic How Many More Years, probably more recognisable through Led Zeppelin’s interpretation. Grunwald asked the audience to call out requests, some of which included: The Dolphin Song, Walking (featured in the newly released movie ‘Limitless’) and Be Yourself. By the end of the night however the crowd still wasn’t satiated, provoking the two-song encore of Breakout and Money and Fancy Clothes.

And so the night ended. Crowds lined up to get signed albums and heap kudos upon the band while others strolled leisurely back to their cars. Nightfall gripped the sky and the artificial phosphorescence of the streetlights within Fremantle bathed the streets with an orange glow that illuminated the way back home. So ended an excellent night by Ash Grunwald, and the final of his WA tour dates.