Photo: Matthew Palmer

Tonight’s audience is a far older and more contemporary one compared to previous Whitlams congregations. They are very appreciative of supporting act Perry Keyes and to tell the truth, so am I. Perry falls somewhere between Bruce Springsteen and Paul Kelly with his working class tales of grittiness and hardship. His sense of place within his songs emanates throughout this performance, which is one of the better singer-songwriter sets I’ve seen in a while.

It is evident very early on in The Whitlams’ set that Tim Freedman and friends are in high spirits. Playing the majority of songs from their new Best Of compilation, Tim is relaxed, jovial and includes the audience whenever he can. It creates a sense of intimacy in the packed Zoo, illustrated perfectly when Tim’s voice almost gets drowned out in Blow Up The Pokies and Buy Now Pay Later. I Make Hamburgers and Gough have everybody jiving. The Whitlams are tight, sound great and are in their element tonight. It’s not every day that a band gets invited back on stage for a second encore, but it just shows that I’m not the only one who is spellbound by this performance.

LINDSEY CUTHBERTSON

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