A Who’s Who of Australian music join forces for a special collaboration.
Rob Snarski with Lindy Morrison, Shane O’Mara and ‘Evil’ Graham Lee – George Lane, St Kilda Sunday 27 March 2022.
Review by Nick Corr, photos by Mark Hopper
The intimate George Lane bar, with its mood lighting, ramshackle seating and low stage was the perfect location to see this one-off collaboration between Ron Snarski (Blackeyed Susans), his usual side-men guitarist Shane O’Mara (Rebecca’s Empire) and ‘Evil’Graham Lee (The Triffids) on pedal steel, and Lindy Morrison (The Go-Betweens) on drums; as it felt like we were getting a glimpse behind the curtain – seeing some of Australia’s absolute finest musicians playing for themselves and the joy of creating music in the moment.
Opening with a reading from his wonderful autobiography ‘You’re Not Rob Snarski’ that details first seeing and his early group Chad’s Tree eventually supporting the Go-Betweens in Western Australia in the early 80s, it was a delight to see the admiration the musicians had for each other and the joy they took from performing together.
Whilst the show had some fantastic Rob Snarksi solo moments – first set opener “Henry Small” from his 2014 release ‘Wounded Bird’, and the first set closing cover of Chris Wilson’s “You Will Surely Love Again” with Rob on vocals and Shane O’Mara (who actually played on the original Chris Wilson recording) on guitar – the highlight of the show was this wonderful ensemble finding their way around Rob Snarski’s back catalogue and a couple of new tunes.
There was some debate during the show about the band name – Rob favoured “The Lindy Band” but I preferred Shane O’Mara’s suggestion of “Rob Snarski’s Circus” which seemed to encompass both the musical joy and good-natured teasing between band members.
Songs from my favourite Rob Snarksi album 2019’s ‘Sparrow and Swan’ were transformed, especially “All God’s Creatures”, “Conversation with a Brisbane Cab Driver”, “That Whole Summer Long” and the glorious “Robert Mitchum at Mitcham Station”.
Material from 2020’s double album ‘Song Gifts’ was equally reinvented, especially the wonderful ode to 90s Sydney music-scene “Michelle Cannane”, the slightly menacing “Dogs of Ubud”, and second set closing “Coca Cola Coloured Eyes”.
We even had a couple of new songs with “Standing Next To David” about The Triffids David McComb should appear on the next Rob Snarski album, and a guest appearance from Hunters and Collectors Jack Howard to add some trumpet to a delightful “Out of the Blue” from ‘Song Gifts’.
In a nod to the impressive Australian musical history between the players – the encore featured Rob and Graham Lee performing The Triffid’s“Raining Pleasure”, before the entire ensemble returned for a joyous cover of The Go-Betweens “Dive For Your Memory”.