Boy & Bear, Sarah Blasko, Tom Harrington @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 15/8/2024
Class definitely rises to the top and this show is a prime example of that. The elite pairing of Boy & Bear and Sarah Blasko then throw in up and coming talent Tom Harrington made for a great night of music at Hindley Street Music Hall. This tour was very much focused on the tenth anniversary of classic Boy & Bear album Harlequin Dream. Not even a stormy Thursday night was going to stop fans from experiencing this show.
There was a big crowd in the venue early and is becoming a bit of a norm to get there ridiculously early to get a good spot but nevertheless this was a really good moment for local talent Tom Harrington to shine. Relishing in the opportunity to play in front of a big crowd with his brand of indie-folk there’s no doubt he would have picked up a stack of new fans. With plenty of great songs in the kit bag be sure to catch him gigging around town.
Wow! It has been a minute since Sarah Blasko was last in town and this performance was all the more special being in solo mode, just Sarah and a piano. It was an intimate set showing a certain vulnerability not having a band. The first two songs Take Me To Church and Bothering Me were focused on growing up religious and as Sarah put it “a hundred years ago”. This was the perfect chance to hear songs from her forthcoming album ‘I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain’ in their purest form. Blasko gems Always Worth It, Never Let Me Go and We Won’t Run were just stellar finishing on Goodbye.
There were no surprises with Boy & Bear’s set playing Harlequin Dream in full, albeit swapping track one to the end of the track listing starting with the charmer Old Town Blues. Boy & Bear are elite and their sound and live show are top shelf. Since starting out I have only missed one Adelaide show and they keep lifting the bar getting better and better each time. They are seasoned campaigners which shows in the quality of live show they deliver night in night out, it is literally faultless. The saxophone on Harlequin Dream was awesome and songs Three Headed Woman and Bridges were sublime.
Singer David Hosking said they had a confession to make saying that they were not originally coming to Adelaide which triggered the crowd to boo. This prompted Hosking to say this is a safe place admitting they were “hammered” on social media apologising for underestimating Adelaide. They also spoke about the overwhelming response to cover one of their songs drawing some three hundred and fifty entries.
Even some of the lesser lights on Harlequin Dream had plenty of sparkle including Real Estate, Stranger and Arrow Flight finishing the main set with the gem Southern Sun with backing vocals by Sarah Blasko. The encore was a real “mixed bag of stuff” kicking off with State Of Flight, Magnus and Lordy May. Walk The Wire and Feeding Line were brilliant topped off with the Crowded House cover Fall At Your Feet joined by Tom Harrington on backing vocals. As the fans piled out on to Hindley Street in to the rain the savouring thought was that we experienced something pretty damn amazing.
Live Review By Rob Lyon