The painted backdrop inside The Workers’ Club is insanely appropriate in creating the setting for this evening’s line up of music. Inside the dimly-lit band room a crowd of punters sit peacefully as Stu Larsen performs in front of the gloomy-looking wooded glen mural.
The acoustic guitar-holding singer beguiles us with tales of touring the US and Australia with fellow folk star, Passenger, pitching tents on South Australian beaches and somebody named “Seaforth McKenzie”.
Larsen has the talking down pat, he gives enough backstory without exasperating the crowd into thinking “Mate, just play the songs already!” and he has an odd stage habit of fidgeting his legs and feet as he croons with his even stranger voice. Whether this is something he does to try and set himself apart from every other guitar-wielding male folk singer or just a nerve thing is difficult to tell.
However, Larsen does a fantastic cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You”, changing registrar with lightning-quick control of his voice and injecting a whole lotta emotion that Chris Martin would be impressed by.
Tim Hart, on the other hand, still needs to find that balance between stage banter and performance. More recognisable as the drummer from Boy and Bear, Hart takes to the middle of the stage for a solo performance.
As he presents a collection of new songs from his debut album, Milling The Wind to a packed room of Friday night revellers, Hart displays some more musical competency other than sitting behind a kit.
Occasionally, you can even hear a familiar hint of the backing vocals from the Sydney band well known for their Crowded House cover, “Fall at Your Feet”. For the most part, though, Hart sings his own way.
But when the talking is more entertaining than the actual music playing, there’s work to be done. To be fair though, when Tim Hart talks, it’s very enjoyable and highly humorous without being too cocky.
His icy blue eyes are unblinking for the most part and he manages to gain back some control of the audience with entertaining chit-chat. Milling The Wind is a well-produced, beautiful piece of folk work but some of the lovely aspects are inevitably lost in a one-man show.
In all its stripped-back glory, a question starts niggling at the back of one’s mind and ends up taking more attention away from the simple performance on stage: Does every musician in a band really need to break away on their own solo mission?
Sure, Hart is a great presence with Boy and Bear (his humour always adds to their live sets) but as a solo artist, there is a certain something lacking that his cheeky attitude can’t make up for. Perhaps it’s just a case of polishing and playing a heap of gigs to keep the guitar playing and lyrics in check, as both were sometimes stumbled over, or maybe he is simply more suited to having more players on stage.
Nevertheless, there are a few dates left and plenty of sold-out crowds to entertain. Next tour round though, the progress will hopefully be an impressive shift forward.
– Anne-Louise Hill
