The Bedroom Philosopher,Catboy @ Transit Bar, Canberra(28/8/11)

Tue 30th Aug, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Sunday nights are generally reserved for post-party relaxation and preparing for the week ahead. Not, however if Justin Heazlewood a.k.a The Bedroom Philosopher has anything to do with it. The Head Sex and Bed Socks tour swung into Transit Bar this past Sunday for an early evening dose of laughs, heckling and some slightly bizarre skits. The Philosopher has been all over the place lately; presenting, hosting, writing and releasing a single. The gig was a reminder of what he does best; making audiences all over the country giggle at his somewhat inappropriate, completely accurate portrayals of tram conductors, bogans, hipsters and folkstars.

Support for the night came from Melbourne’s Catboy, whose odd, tongue-in-cheek ditties held the audience’s attention as the bar rapidly filled up. Songs about relationships, pornography and traffic were the order of the day, spliced with excerpts from a very teenage boy novel called Beast Master. Catboy’s quirky and honest tunes were just right thing to set the mood for the rest of the night, their slightly left-of-centre vibe going hand-in-hand with what The Bedroom Philosopher does.

At the very rock and roll time of 7:30pm the eager audience got what they came for. Jumping onto the stage from where he was socialising in the bar, The Philosopher casually launched into his set. The laughs started straight away with a musical introduction, before hit Tram Inspector really got things going. Favourites such as I’m So Post Modern and Megan The Vegan were on offer, as well as lesser known gems like Everybody’s Got The Same Insecurities As You. We were treated to some pretty lovely poetry, hilarious heckling of the night’s resident Tooheys New drunk, a tragically beautiful skit about techromance and some really accurate observations about life in Belconnen. A quick costume change saw The Bedroom Philosopher kitted out in his now well-known folk style, pyjama outfit, which gave way to a rendition of Folkstar. The on-stage antics halted momentarily when, due to some erratic dancing The Philosopher lost his glasses. He curled childlike on stage until the aforementioned beer-guzzling bogan saved the day, producing the glasses from where they fell on the stage. And that, ladies and gentlemen is how people come together.

So the show went on and ended in much the same way it began; sarcastic, witty and just a little bit self-aware. The Bedroom Philosopher has found his niche amongst the skinny-legged indie bands and acoustic singer-songwriters of today and he no doubt will continue delighting audiences with his comedic musical extravaganza for quite some time.

Who needs The Comedy Club when you have Transit Bar, right?