For the fourth show of his Spirit Bird tour, Xavier Rudd played to a small but enthusiastic audience at the Thebarton Theatre on a Saturday night.
Supporting artist Yeshe got the show off to a sterling start with his laid back worldly style. Yeshe complemented Rudd perfectly without being a carbon copy as so many support acts are. His cover of ‘Everything’s Going To Be Alright’ was clearly the crowd favourite of the set.
A modest Rudd appeared on the stage and ‘namaste-ed’ to the audience. Straight away he took to his one-man-band set up and began playing didgeridoo and percussion simultaneously. The psychedelic lighting show fit perfectly with the drone of the didgeridoo and his hypnotic drumming.
All put together, it set the audience into a trancelike state. As expected, Rudd demonstrated his command of many instruments, even playing a sitar at one point during the show.
Swapping to an electric acoustic guitar for his second tune ‘Fortune Teller’ was a nice mellow come down from what came before. Throughout the set Rudd alternatively whipped up the audience with funky, dance beats and then lulled them back into a calm, zen state with smooth vocals and soft instrumental playing.
Clear crowd favourites of the night were the oldies (but goodies), ‘Don’t Understand’ and ‘Let Me Be’. Rudd resisted the calls from the audience to go further down memory lane and didn’t play ‘Green Spandex’. Instead, his cover of ‘Buffalo Solider’ (with altered lyrics to reflect the current Australian climate) was another highlight.
The only drawback of the night was Rudd’s slightly over extended soloing. Although he’s known for this, and it’s great that he didn’t just sound like he does on his albums, some of the jams just went for too long.
The show finished on a deep emotional level when Rudd performed the title track from his new album, Spirit Bird. For many of the audience members this was the first time they had heard it performed live, moving some to tears by the end of the number.
This was the perfect way to finish off an excellent night of beautiful music. Rudd’s honesty and quiet charisma drew the audience in and he once again showed that an elaborate set, a huge band and cheesy gimmicks are not necessary to make good music.
-Brittany Chapburn
