I got my ticket so long ago that the gig kind of crept up on me, but this was a darn good show - Chambers just stood up there and belted out song after song, tuneful and strong and clear, and it was great. (Songs interspersed with very warm, genuine-feeling banter with band and crowd.) Listening to them all, one after another, made me wonder if perhaps I've undervalued her, both as a songwriter and an artist - I tend to think of The Captain and Barricades & Brickwalls as her only really good albums, but seeing her play live made me realise what a strong back catalogue she has, at least as measured by its highlights. If I have undervalued her, it may be on a similar basis to my slightly ambivalent but strong liking of our Zadie - p'raps I take her for granted because she's always seemed so close to home.
The concert also brought me to realise how familiar I am with Chambers's songs, and how much a part of my life they've been. I don't think there's ever been a period when I was especially into her music, but I've liked her for a long time (well before the current wholehearted plunge into country music) and, well, it means more to me than I'd realised.
(Also, the way she presented, both during and between songs, reminded me of Reese Witherspoon's June Carter Cash in Walk The Line.)
Highlights (but these are mainly just the ones which most stick in my mind): "If I Were You", one of my faves on record and well-placed in this set, third song up; "I Still Pray" (another favourite, and done live a cappella in a bit of a bluegrass style with spectral male harmonies); "The Captain", which obviously means so much to her; "A Little Bit Lonesome" (obviously she enjoyed the rollickin' numbers); and a couple of the more upbeat anthems from the last couple of albums were really good too.
So yeah, heaps of fun and very impressive - a good 'un.
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Support act, Angus & Julia Stone, I thought were very raw but rather endearing, and they had some pretty good songs up their sleeve and a bit of talent to make up for the relative lack of polish. I liked them - thought they were good and wouldn't mind hearing more of them.
