John Butler Trio - 3 Times in 5 Days

Firstly, you may ask why? Why see the same band 3 times in a row? Seeing them in London in November was amazing and the tickets were reasonably priced so why not?

Anyway seeing the same band 3 times in 5 days was an interesting experience. Firstly because it makes you realise that although the songs are all the same (with the exception of the odd few) no two, or in this case three, shows are ever exactly the same. When you see a band who come to your hometown once in a year you normally only see them on the one night they are there and assume that all the other nights they play are the same. It was really interesting how the audience, venue and even day made a difference to the overall dynamic of the performance. All the gigs were outside which was brilliant (a major change from the stuffy, sweaty and dark holes in London), I managed to get some of the others to come along to two of them which wasn't difficult as they all love JBT over here. The first gig was at Fremantle Arts Centre. For this I was on the front row and got some great pictures of the sunset behind the stage where it turned the clouds an amazing red. It looks like a screen or backdrop but it was real! It was such an amazing sight and coupled with the music, a unique experience. It dawned on me then that, jeez!, I had actually made it to Australia and that I had many adventures ahead of me over these next 8 months.




The second gig was at Belvoir Amphitheater (picture below) which is quite a way outside of Perth. It fell on Australia day and most Aussies had been drinking all day (as is custom) and by the evening were totally wrecked, which meant that the evening was generally spent avoiding aggro and holding back from knocking out "Shane". On the way out we saw some fat dude totally passed out being stuffed into the back of a Ute. In a word carnage! Which was amazing as everyone there seemed wrecked but the venue was out in the sticks meaning getting home was only achievable via car. Consequently we took the alternative route home. The offshoot of this rowdiness was that when John Butler tried to get the crowd to be quiet so he could do a proper unplugged version of "Peaches and Cream" (a quiet acoustic track) with just one mic at the front of the stage, nobody would shut up and when they started shouting "Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie, Oi, Oi, Oi" he promptly abandoned it.



The final gig back at Fremantle Arts Center was an all ages show, meaning no bar and this effect on the crowd was markable. The crowd was so quiet and was actually listening to what they were being given. This gig was also the best musically and out of the three versions of "Ocean" (an amazing 10-12 minute solo instrumental) I heard, this nights was the best. It was so spectacular that it was emotional. This was also the final gig of the Australian tour which made it particularly special for them as well as the fact is was also the last for John Butlers sister who had been working and traveling with him for years. He bought her out onstage and at that point I realised it was the girl I had been pointing out to everyone on the merchandising stall as well fit! He then played one of his very early tracks "Sister".




I heard about 5 new songs over these 3 shows (many of which were the first ever public performances) and they were all really cool. So predictions point towards a very good next album!

The support act at each gig, Carus and The True Believers, are also well worth checking out. And we were also treated to an authentic Aboriginal didgeridoo, spoken word and dance performance from Richard Walley and the local aboriginal tribe - the Noongar people.