Bush Hall, London
27th May 2007
It’s raining. Not just raining, but absolutely pissing it down. The streets are running with water, and my eyes are so full of rain it takes me fully half an hour longer to find the venue than it should otherwise have done, meaning that by the time I get in, Mr Harvey‘s set is already underway. And by crikey, he looks like he’s having a great time.
Yes, ladies and gents, that’s the most shocking thing – Mick Harvey, who seems to have spent the last nigh-on thirty years of his career looking stern while he tries to keep some discipline among his bandmates in the Birthday Party and the Bad Seeds, actually seems to be enjoying himself. Swigging contentedly from his beer, chatting away in between songs, he comes across as the all-round genial chap, even as he croons and growls his way through a set which unsurprisingly enough leans rather heavily on his ace new album Two Of Diamonds. Accompanied by sometime-Bad Seed Thomas Wydler on drums, Rosie Westbrook on cello and James Johnston of Gallon Drunk and the Bad Seeds on organ and guitar, Mr Harvey is every inch the rock’n’roll troubadour, by turns suave, sad and soulful. From the dark gospel of “A Walk On The Wild Side” to “Slow-Motion-Movie-Star”‘s wall of sound, effortlessly switching from a whisper to a strident baritone as the situation demands, there’s never a doubt that he means every word. As with the album, all the non-self-penned numbers were clearly not chosen lightly.
For the encore we’re treated to three – yes, THREE! – Serge Gainsbourg numbers, including an incredibly cool “Intoxicated Man” and an absolutely stunning “Bonnie and Clyde”, every bit as epic as either Serge’s original or, indeed, Peckinpah‘s movie. And, of course, with a nod to the weather at the end, he returns for one last number- a bittersweet rendition on Fred Neil’s “A Little Bit Of Rai”n, before the adoring crowd have to head out into something substantially more than that once more.
-Deuteronemu 90210, the Out Of Time Badger-
