GoMA - Sat Dec 8

For a few music-minded people, tonight’s ‘public’ performance of Velvet Underground classics by Go-Between Robert Forster has a fair bit of local significance. Ostensibly arranged to celebrate the opening of GoMA’s huge Andy Warhol exhibition, there’s a lot to admire behind the concept. After all, Triple Zed enlisted the Warhol banana from the cover of the Velvet Underground & Nico as their mascot (even if the banana looks a little less copyright-infringement worthy these days). Add to that Forster’s local legend status – the Go-Betweens standing alongside the Saints as Brisbane/Queensland’s major contribution to internationally-recognised music culture – and you really have something to celebrate. Unfortunately limited ticketing means a lot of very disappointed people miss out tonight, GoMA’s air-conditioned tent venue hosting a handful of art and music fans, skewed somewhat heavily towards the art crowd in numbers. Perhaps as a consequence, the performance from Forster and his impressive backing band (including Adele Pickvance from the Go-Be’s final incarnation, Susie Patten from I Heart Hiroshima, the Polaroids’ Dylan McCormack, and Karin Baumler), looks and sounds very much like a display piece. Minimum banter interrupts the set, comprised of timeless Velvets songs like Sunday Morning, Femme Fatale, There She Goes Again, Pale Blue Eyes and many more, all performed with reverential care. An enormous cluster of helium-filled silver pillows is released early on, bouncing off the heads of audience members throughout the set and giving the tent a Warholian party feel. Forster doesn’t try to emulate Lou Reed, instead delivering the lyrics with hints of his own characteristic wryness, while Baumler provides Nico’s vocal lines on a number of tracks, including a wonderful rendition of All Tomorrow’s Parties. After a short break, the band return for an encore of Lisa Says, with Forster dedicating the performance to the Velvets and showering praise on his, admittedly excellent, backing band. Overall though, the performance has been almost somber in its regimented execution, and I leave wondering if the band would have responded better to a larger audience of genuinely excited fans. Nonetheless, it’s the kind of music nerd-thrilling event that no one would have expected to occur under normal circumstances, and for that alone, Forster and GoMA get a thumbs-up from me.

TOPHER HEALY

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