After a ball-bursting 2006, culminating in an ARIA award and this show getting billed as ‘your last chance to see Bob Evans this year’, ticket sales were strong and Perth peeps were keen to welcome home the artist formerly known as Kevin Mitchell from Jebediah.
With a big crowd forming, many were grateful The Hydey back room’s occasional tables and chairs had left the building, allowing dozens of eager punters to plant their arse cheeks firmly on the (hereby dubbed) Not Tonight Dance Floor at the front of stage. Could the glory days of indie sit-ins for support bands be making a comeback? The guitar & drums duo known as From the Skies added to the homely feelin’, projecting their songs with confidence to and beyond the happy sitters as their indie-rock steam train chugged throughout the room.
Halfway through I noticed that the man in front of me with what, in the dark, initially appeared a sleeping cat on his head was The Sleepy Jackson singer Luke Steele and that I was getting distracted too easily, too often. So Maybe From the Skies weren’t all my cup of tea, at least not this time around. Sporting more fervour than flavour, they had me and the bevy of nearby chatters half interested but waiting for that something more infectious. More hooks, stronger melodies and more depth were the order of the night, so in the meantime more beer, during which FTS would be our soundtrack and background music for the time being. The drum solo at the end of their set, eventually with all four hands on sticks and skins, was a fittingly punctuated closing. These guys enjoyed themselves probably more than anyone, which only rubbed off on the crowd leaving it slightly more amped as a result. FTS were the idyllic solid support band - nothing more, nothing less. It is worth noting they drew the short straw in sound quality, clearly shaped around tonight’s main act…
Like switching from mono to stereo on your radio dial, the Bob Evans band (including Hugh Jennings, Ronnie Parkin & Nigel Bird) wound into action following a quick hello from ‘Bob’. Opening with the Muppet-esque Nowhere Without You from current album Suburban Songbook, the room officially clicked into glee mode and the Not Tonight Dance Floor was soon standing room only. The early part of the Bob Evans set was where this night peaked, with harmonica Bob entering true solo mode about halfway in and then returning to band format thereafter. A reasonably colour-by-numbers event, as expected the hit songs were the most well received although Don’t You Think it’s Time came out sounding a little brisk and perhaps could have benefited with some even softer simplicity. Meanwhile, Turn was a cheery highlight, the song that first stuck in heads from the debut album Suburban Kid.
Modest as ever, Bob/Kevin admitted to being more nervous than usual about performing in one of his favourite watering holes back home after such a big year, often on the road. Although he’d succeeded around town more than once earlier this year, would he still be accepted by his peers down at the local, or relegated to becoming a fish the west would reject? The answer was always going to be thumbs up and all clear from the Bob mob; the only prerequisite was that he continued having fun doing his own inimitable thing. He did that with the usual cool composure and dry humour we’ve come to know and naturally a bottle of wine that merrily found its way around the stage. The night drifted to an end before a steadily dwindling crowd, but not before Mitchell was called back to supplement the show with a solo encore, a show which was reasonably full bodied and satisfying … like that celebratory wine.
With the songbook closed for the year, the future looks as rosy now for Mitchell as the past. In the year in which he got married, turned 30, won the ARIA for Best Adult Contemporary Album, was nominated for another, celebrated the West Coast Eagles’ AFL premiership and played to adoring audiences across the country under what was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek pseudonym (so it wouldn’t clash with his ‘real’ band), Mitchell’s feet remain grounded with the omnipresent option of his ‘rock roots’ to possibly tend to. That plus the proposition of some more Bob material, hopefully some of which could see light on the upcoming Big Day Out roadshow.
Next year, Mitchell may well sit down with his self realised, newfound sense of maturity, a stronger pool of belief, maybe a stack of old Ted Hawkins LPs or akin to further inspire the alter-ego, or he may consider using some female vocal accompaniment. He might even do something else entirely - heck, he’s already done the bagpipes. Time will tell, but for now I’d hazard a guess he’ll be doing Season’s Greetings with some well-earned quality time at home, followed by the NYE Spectacular at Amplifier Bar.
Fingers crossed that when he does keep writing it’s for himself first and foremost, because chances are that if Kevin Mitchell enjoys what comes of that; such is his charismatic magnetism, ear for what’s good and form of late; so too will we.
