Review: Ben Ottewell at The Spotted Mallard, Melbourne, November 23rd, 2018
If there’s one thing that a Melbourne crowd loves, it’s a talented musician armed with just a simple guitar and their mesmerising voice. As a result, Ben Ottewell’s most recent trip to Australia has been met with the expected love and applause that this talented musician has become accustomed to.
For more than 20 years, Ben Ottewell has been known to indie fans as the husky-voiced vocalist of English band Gomez.
A familiar face on Aussie stages, Ottewell is anything but a stranger to our shores, with this current tour serving as his third visit to the country – and second as a solo artist – in 15 months.
Performing his third Victorian show of his tour on Friday night, Ben Ottewell took to The Spotted Mallard – the endearing, intimate venue in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick – to deliver a traditionally stunning performance.
Kicking things off the for the evening was Los Angeles artist Buddy – the mononymic leader of his eponymous band – performing a selection of songs in solo mode.
Armed with just a guitar and a microphone, this severely underrated artist delivered an array of gorgeously poetic songs, backed with the delicate instrumentation that gives his songs their emotional appeal.
His fourth visit to Australia (and fourth time supporting Ben Ottewell), Buddy’s set was at times unfortunately drowned out by members of the audience talking through the performance.
Thankfully, their attention was eventually held by way of his final song, which featured him venturing into the audience, and finishing his all-too-brief set from on top of a chair.
Following a brief intermission, the friendly, bearded face of Ben Ottewell took to the stage. Surrounded by guitars (and a severe lack of table for his water glass, as he later joked), he soon jumped into a rousing rendition of ‘Rattlebag’, the title track from his second solo record.
Known for his personable charm and his powerful voice, Ottewell mixed in bluesy guitar riffs with his soulful vocals, delivering a series of his critically-acclaimed solo tracks, along with a suitable serving of Gomez classics.
Usually, when an artist from a well-known band goes on a solo tour, the tunes from their regular band end up overshadowing the majority of the set. However, the evening’s audience seemed equally enraptured by each and every song Ottewell served up, with Gomez’ ’78 Stone Wobble’ and Ottewell’s tender ‘Blackbird’ receiving a comparable amount of raucous applause through the night.
While a call for any Deadheads in the audience was met with almost complete silence, Ben Ottewell nevertheless went forward with a cover of The Grateful Dead’s ‘China Doll’, following it up with his own rendition of The Temptations’ ‘The Way You Do The Things You Do’.
Cracking jokes between songs, and singing the praises of Melbourne, Ottewell presented himself as an endearingly affable character, with fans feeling as though they were watching their best mate singing a few tracks on the main stage.
After a trio of classic Gomez tracks, Ottewell eschewed the tradition of leaving the stage for an encore, instead staying put to deliver an absolutely stunning, extended rendition of ‘Tijuana Lady’, before leaving the stage, and leaving fans wanting so much more.
While Ben Ottewell’s most recent Aussie tour feels as though it’s gone by far too quickly, his eager fans can take solace that as a frequent visitor of the country, they won’t have to wait too long to see him at his powerful best again.
Ben Ottewell is performing at Victoria’s Queenscliff Music Festival today, and will wrap up his Australian tour with a performance at Tasmania’s Peppermint Bay Hotel on Sunday.
Check out Gomez’ ‘Tijuana Lady’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ojprhey24c
Ben Ottewell @ The Spotted Mallard, Melbourne 23/11/18 Setlist
‘Rattlebag’
‘Patience And Rosaries’
‘Rhythm & Blues Alibi’ (Gomez song)
‘Steal Away’
‘A Man Apart’
‘Shapes And Shadows’
‘Love Is Better Than A Warm Trombone’ (Gomez song)
’78 Stone Wobble’ (Gomez song)
‘Hamoa Beach’ (Gomez song)
‘Blackbird’
‘China Doll’ (Grateful Dead cover)
‘Chicago’
‘The Way You Do The Things You Do’ (The Temptations cover)
‘Free To Run’ (Gomez song)
‘Little Pieces’ (Gomez song)
‘Bring It On’ (Gomez song)
Encore:
‘Tijuana Lady’ (Gomez song)
Ben Ottewell Australian Tour
Sunday, November 25th
Peppermint Bay Hotel, TAS
Tickets: Oztix
