The Troubadour - Fri Feb 20

Much to his own chagrin, this writer has recently been riding a wave of logistical/travelling discrepancies; tonight, my unplanned pre-gig cruise to the Western suburbs means I’m too late for the harmonious Melbourne quintet The Smallgoods. My apologies boys – I owe you one next time.

Roots Americana down to her “prairie lady” hairstyle, Jolie Holland obliges us to sit down and listen intently with her unhurried strumming and bluesy voice. Tonight’s set-list spanning all of her four albums from 2003’s Catalpa to recently-released The Living And The Dead, the Texan switches between a vintage semi-acoustic, an electric piano (“It’s not a piano – it knows it’s not!” she quips) and a box-shaped violin (scything on the bare-bones encore number Mad Tom Of Bedlam) for her confessional songs. Adjusted to the low-key vibe, Jolie backing band are equally subdued – the lead guitarist is particularly unassuming, only really letting rip during the strident octave break in Old Fashioned Morphine. A sole moment of incongruity arrives in the shape of an overzealous fan who asks the singer/songwriter to autograph his LP and pledges his love to her (to which Jolie’s bass player snaps a droll “I love you too”) before the show’s over; hoots, whistles, a hand-held bundle of bells and a requisite encore all come and go – just like the prairie wind.

DENIS SEMCHENKO 

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