Bob Evans

The feelgood factor was high for the first night of Bob Evans Suburban Songbook tour. Wednesday night in Launceston - I was doubtful, but thankfully proven wrong.

The venue was pretty empty when I first got there though. This was a shame, as the crowd that came later probably would have liked Mick Attard's warm up set. His band, the Embers, are a guaranteed good time dance/folk group, but it was great to see what he can do solo and acoustic. An accomplished guitarist, he can do quite a lot.

Mick began with a song titled "Exchange", a sweet, sweeping, soothing number. Great for relaxing with a drink. He picked up the pace a little with the next one, "River Moon". A deeper sound with a stronger beat, sung at a lower pitch.

His voice is great for reaching deeper sounds, low and mellow and his playing is wonderfully agile. At one stage he was playing entirely on the neck of the guitar, sounding fantastic. He can quiver his chords and play around while staying true to the song, rather than getting too involved in displaying his range. A lovely start to the evening, if only more people had been there to hear it!

Next up was Carl Fidler, whose set was hampered by technical difficulties. He has a strong voice, but long breaks between songs, trying to fix equipment problems, and his lack of patter had the crowd losing interest.

By the time Bob Evans took to the stage the room had filled up, much to my relief. There is a fine line between an intimate gig and and an embarassment. Thankfully a fair amount turned out to welcome the tour.

It started well. When a set begins with a guy wandering onto the stage with acoustic guitar, harmonica and a bottle, I know Im in for something good.

He began with the lovely "Nowhere Without You", drawing people closer to the stage. Then his band, consisting of Hugh Jennings, Ronnie Parkin and Nigel Bird, joined him for "Friend" and got people moving. The sound guy punched up the keys and guitar for the next number, for a good, if subtle, effect.

By then everyone seemed to be having a good time, the mood fun and playful, matching the sweet soul and bouncing blues beats of Bob Evans "mongrel country pop band". They ended "The Great Unknown" with a slide into "Greensleeves", a funny touch, very cute.

"Sadness and Whiskey went down well, accompanied by shots supplied gratis from the bar staff. After that the band were really relaxed and enjoying themselves, and playing like they felt.

After "Rocks in My Head" and a tune or two from the first album "Suburban Kid" - which he said he didn't expect anyone to recognise, except for the cute couple in matching "Suburban Kid" t-shirts - the band left him to do a couple of solo numbers with a lot of harp.

Then they were back for a few more, including a Sleepy Jackson cover that surprised me, plus more shots. All looked like they were having as much fun as the audience, the music matching the mood perfectly.

And the audience was great. This was one of the nicest gigs I have been to. The floor was crowded, but people gave each other room. Lots of couples danced together, people obligingly moved if you wanted to get past and strangers smiled at each other. There was one drunken yobbo up the back who occasionally yelled out "Kevin Mitchell", I suppose to show us how clever he was at knowing Bobs real name (wanker), but he was the only sour note.

The band danced and laughed with the rest of us, then went straight to the encore without leaving the stage.

The final song was the gorgeously wistful "Me and My Friend", putting a definate but gentle end to the evening. The crown roared and whistled thier approval.

If the rest of the tour is anything like the first night, it is going to go very well indeed. People around Australia are in for a treat.

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