Review by Nick Corr.
Tim Rogers & The Twin Set Live Brunswick Ballroom 16 November 2022
The Brunswick Ballroom was packed to the rafters for the first Tim Rogers and The Twin Set show in 23 years. One of only two live previews for the forthcoming second Twin Set album Tines of Stars Unfurled due for release in February 2023.
While the core of Tim Rogers and the Twin Set remains the same as it’s initial 1999 incarnation, there’s been a couple of changes as Tim Rogers said in a recent interview “We wanted to get as many of the original members together that we could, but through death and relocation that wasn’t possible”.
So, joining the original line-up of Tim Rogers on acoustic guitar and vocals, Jen Anderson (Weddings Parties Anything) on violin and vocals, and Davey Lane (You Am I) on guitar; are Jeff Consi (The Badloves) on drums and Richard Bradbeer (Eagle and the Worm, New Gods) on double-bass. They were also occasionally joined by John Kendall (Delinski) on mandolin.
I often prefer Tim Rogers (You Am I, The Hard-Ons) in country crooner mode, so his return to “fiddle-and-squeezebox country-blues” (his description) of the first Twin Set album, also his solo debut, 1999’s What Rhymes With Cars And Girls is welcome news.
The forthcoming album Tines of Stars Unfurled is a bookend to the ’99 release. As Tim explained tonight, while rehearsing for Aidan Fennessy’s 2015 MTC stage play based on the album, he started writing sequel songs to the original record. More recently he contacted Jen Anderson, his original collaborator for the first Twin Set album, and they started recording them in much the same home spun fashion as the original record.
Tonight’s show was a fantastic opportunity to hear the original tune, followed by its older world-weary cousin. Stomper ‘Arse Kickin’ Lady from the Northwest’ is followed by ‘That Arse Kickin Song’, ‘I Live Under The Flight Path’ by ‘I Live Near A Train Station’, and most effectively ‘Twenty Eight’ followed by ‘Twenty Two’ the later written for Tim’s daughter.
The songs from What Rhymes With Cars And Girls still shine, with Jen Anderson killing it tonight, especially taking over Sally Dasty’s vocals for the duet ‘Up-A-Ways’.
The end of the set included a couple of cheeky covers The Beatles ‘Eight Days a Week’ and Neil Young’s ‘Don’t Cry No Tears’ before finishing with the touching ‘The Songs They Played As I Drove Away’.
Tines of Stars Unfurled is available for pre-order now. https://timrogers.bandtshirts.com.au/