Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Recording: Robert Forster

Artist: Robert Forster

Songs: Clouds + Baby Stones + Spring Rain + Life Has Turned a Page + Demon Days + Surfing Magazines

Recorded at The Drake Underground, November 12, 2019.

Robert Forster - Clouds

Robert Forster - Baby Stones

Robert Forster - Spring Rain

Robert Forster - Life Has Turned a Page

Robert Forster - Demon Days

Robert Forster - Surfing Magazines

A rare chance to spend an evening with a top-notch songwriter saw Robert Forster taking to a bare stage at the Drake with only an acoustic guitar and a lifetime's supply of tunes. As hinted at by the selection of songs above, he essayed all eras of his career, from the ebullience of The Go-Betweens' heyday, to his first solo phase in the band's interregnum, to the group's turn-of-the-millenium reformation (with special attention paid to last album/late-era standout Oceans Apart), to the series of solo albums he has released following Grant McLennan's untimely passing.

At the end of a long tour and on the other side of the world from the infernos engulfing his native Australia, Forster was stoic but upbeat, sharing a few stories and some self-deprecating humour (including telegraphing a guitar solo with the warning that his guitar playing is normally "not a feature reviewers normally mention"). Equally capable at relating the breezy singalong joy of "Surfing Magazines" as the something's-gone-wrong melancholy of "Demon Days", McLennan's songs often pause to re-evaluate the past, so this wide-ranging retrospective suited things quite well.

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