The John Butler Trio have come a long way from their self titled John Butler , back in 1998. Their latest release, Grand National has drifted from the trio’s original sound, adding a funk based element to many of the songs that wasn’t seen in previous releases. The new record has also seen more commercial success for the band, with its first single, ‘Funky Tonight’ reaching the groups highest ARIA Chart position. With the new successes under their belt, and following from recent performances in the Zero Seven road trip, the JBT gave a very rare performance for Vodafone Live at the Chapel before they head off on their biggest national tour to date.
The intimacy of Chapel off Chapel was like “playing in somebody’s lounge room,” described John Butler as he, Shannon Birchall and Michael Barker played to around 200 lucky guests. A handful of guests were privileged to sit in beanbags and couches at the front of the floor/stage. The intimate performance was part of season three of Vodafone Live at the Chapel and once all the technical formalities of production were over, the John Butler Trio treated the audience to two hours of their soulful tunes. The trio were each dressed in simple black, Butler’s long dreads tied into two large buns on the back of his head.
The visuals of the evening were all in the venue; candelabras surrounding the stage, tall stained glass windows as a backdrop and wide beams of light waving about. When Butler walked out he requested that nobody fall asleep; a strange request as the trio then opened with the fast, pop driven, ‘Used To Get High,’ which immediately showed the band in high spirits. This opening also began the string of Grand National tracks which made up the majority of the performance.
The intimacy of the event also meant that Butler could share his thoughts and stories about particular tracks. Stories of how songs such as ‘Daniella’ and ‘Gov Did Nothing’ preceded the respective tracks. Butler’s respects to indigenous people of the land lead to some confusion, with someone asking what it had to do with ‘Daniella’ . Butler was simply saying things out of order, he explained. Butler’s political views were present; his frustration with the American government evident as he told of how ‘Gov Did Nothing’ was about the victims of Hurricane Katrina losing “their lives, their hope and their government”.
As Butler performed a couple of tracks solo, the audience could only be mesmerised at the movement and precision of his hands. Playing a long acoustic solo, the concentration in Butler’s face was almost as amazing as the pace of his fingers. Older tracks, ‘Treat Yo Mama’ and ‘Ocean’ were played with this great precision, the epic introduction to ‘Treat Yo Mama’ captivating everyone in the Chapel and demonstrating what a brilliant guitarist John Butler is.
After a long introduction full of high-praise and admiration, veteran Australian guitarist and major influence to John Butler, Jeff Lang , joined the band on stage to add guitar to the slow paced, ‘Groovin’ Slowly’. Butler experienced some problems with his guitar, hindering the beginning of the song, but they were soon laughed off. Lang played flawlessly throughout the track, mixing his skills of standard and slide guitar, whilst Butler sang the reggae track sounding very much like Bob Marley .
‘Zebra’ and ‘Good Excuse’ finished the main set with high intensity, the crowd clapping along to the energy filled tracks. Toward the end of ‘Good Excuse’, Birchall on double bass and Barker on drums and percussion finally got their true moment to shine as each played their respective solos. Birchall’s double bass solo emphasised the funk base of a lot of the new tracks played, and Barker’s drum solo was simply brilliant, Butler and Birchall moving off stage to watch.
Butler returned by himself to perform the first encore song, ‘Peaches and Cream,’ in which he had the audience clapping and singing, “All I know is … I love you,” which seemed to take some time to build but “got there in the end”. The softness of Butler’s voice really shone through during this slower track, which greatly stood out amongst the more upbeat feel of the set. Birchall and Barker return toward the end of the song, marking a brilliant climax.
There seemed to be a pretty happy reaction from the crowd as Butler produced his banjo for ‘Better Than’, before then finishing with the infectious ‘Funky Tonight’. Butler walked forward into the middle of the front audience as Barker let rip on the bongos, and had everyone stand and clap along to this final track, ending the night with high energy.
The John Butler Trio performed at the highest standard and, despite a few musical hiccups, they produced a solid and engaging set of new material, with a few oldies thrown in. The John Butler Trio, with its current lineup being its strongest ever, have established themselves as one of the greatest Australian acts going around and their performance at the Chapel only consolidated their musical talent.
