GIG: BEN FOLDS + KATE MILLER-HEIDKE
Review By Duncan McLeod
Review: Kate Miller-Heidke did well but out of the 3 times this reviewer had seen her in 6 months this was her least impressive effort. She seemed to take liberties with song experimentation tonight and these didn’t come off as she might have hoped. She started well and ended well but fumbled through the middle of an all too short 35 minute set. Having seen her three times there was much of the same content here.
What was missing was the cover if Eminem’s ‘Real Slim Shady’. That was perhaps a conscious effort given the tone of the evening. However the swearing in her renowned ‘Are you F**king Kidding Me’ was more pronounced than said Eminem song.
There didn’t seem to be as much oomph in her performance this time around. That could be due to this being the end of a US and UK tour Miller-Heidke has done in support of Folds. The exposure would have been fantastic for her though took its toll on her performance. Her guitarist and backing vocalist Keiran Nuttall was perhaps the best he’s been in recent times.
The guitar prowess was great and his voice was rich and deep as usual. The gag about his likeness to Folds went over well with the audience despite this reviewer having heard it at Bluesfest. Strangely enough, Miller-Heodke’s ‘Are you F**king Kidding Me’(The Facebook Song) drew little applause as it started, alluding to the fact that this audience had not heard it before. Here was the primate quietly singing along as the rest of the audience laughed and cheered on queue. The song that stuck in the Primate’s head this time around, unlike any other outing is ‘Caught in the Crowd’. It’s about a someone at her school she didn’t stick up for and didn’t make friends with but if she had her time over again, would change all that.
If nothing else Miller-Heidke did broaden her fan base at the gig, like she would have on the bill at Bluesfest. She stated that she would be signing merch at interval and Primate saw a handful of people returning to their seats with signed CDs. It does seem like this darling of Australian music is still on the rise. Her powerful operatic voice is still attracting fans, and the rest of us are wondering why it took them so long to find out about this great young talent.
BEN FOLDS came out thrashing and didn’t let up for two hours, stopping on a handful of occasions to take a breath and give us the story behind one song.
There seemed to be a manic/ADHD behind his persona as he fought the need to sit still and almost rode the piano frequently. The thing that struck me about the performance as a whole was Fold’s abuse of the piano.
He displayed great versatility traversing the genres of Honky-Tonk, Classical, Jazz and 80′s ballads but the overriding factor was that Folds just thrashed away at the keys more often than not and that ruined the otherwise great music he was producing.
Having a French Horn in the band was a nice touch and a great addition to the musical arrangements. The man on percussion was very entertaining and stole this reviewer’s gaze more than once. Folds was indeed in fine voice though, and when it was just he and the piano that’s when things became more entertaining and enjoyable.
He invited Miller-Heidke on stage for not one but three songs including the catchy, radio friendly ‘You Don’t Know Me’. It was in this triad of tunes that both Miller-Heidke and Folds were their best on the evening. They played off each other well and gave the impression that when this tour finally winds down after so much time together both of them will be genuinely sad to see the other go. This seemed like a true friendship had formed between the two artists and not just your typical business relationship.
Folds covered KE$HA and not a popular track of hers either. It was the track ‘Sleazy’ that was #1 briefly on iTunes that the band chose on a whim before embarking on the tour as they couldn’t think of another track to cover. The performance afforded Folds the ability to rap which he was quite good at but it was in no way as good as the missing Real Slim Shady cover from Miller-Heidke’s set.
As mentioned Folds deserves praise for two hours of solid performance but it seems he has lost his mojo. The company Primate was with has seen Folds before and his last outing was just he and the piano at the Opera House no less.
That is something Primate would like to see but being subjected to thoughtless bashing of the piano that drowned out the rest of the band is not very inspiring and doesn’t require a repeat performance.
The most touching moment of the night came when he performed the song he wrote for his daughter Gracie.
Songs that sadly were missing from the set included; ‘Lucky’ ‘…Dwarves’ and the lamenting smash hit ‘Brick’
Ben Folds knows how to Rock the Suburbs but tonight’s effort was suburban mayhem.
I do like Ben Folds
So does E but said I wasn’t seeing him at his best