Articles by Maryanne Window

It’s a long flight from Boise Idaho to Melbourne but American singer songwriter Eilen Jewell has made the journey twice in 6 months having found her people here, as evidenced in her latest run of sold out shows around the country in support of her latest album ‘Down Hearted Blues’. The album is a wonderful celebration of her favourite blues songs that she discovered in a hidden corner of the attic in her family home as a teenager in the form her father’s record collection. The way she told the story to the packed house at the recently re-located Caravan Club, it was a discovery that was unexpected; like uncovering secret treasure, confessing that if the records had been foisted upon her at that impressionable age she probably would have run a mile from them and missed out on the joys of artists such as Howlin’ Wolf and Bessie Smith until way later in life.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Beck live in Australia. I remember first seeing him play solo acoustic at the Melbourne Showgrounds in late 1995 as part of the Summersalt lineup. He was an emerging talent back then and was sandwiched in between Pavement and Sonic Youth on the bill 6 months prior to his breakthrough album “Odelay” being released. Seeing him here again 22 years later it seemed like no time had gone by. Actually I tell a lie – looking around the crowd there were a lot of 25 year olds trapped in 48 year old bodies and I was one of them.

​​​​​​​You know a show is going to be something special when the star of the show gets a standing ovation before he’s even played or sung a note – this was how Paul Weller was greeted by a near capacity Sydney Opera House crowd for his first tour of Australia since 2010.