Review by Jeff Scott

G'day all!

Got back from a week's living in a sandhill eating fish in Shark Bay just in time to catch the Warumpi Band playing on the Perth Esplanade (strange time of year to have an outdoor show, but we were lucky with the weather!)

This is the first time I've been able to see the Warumpis live, and I have to say they lived up to expectations - they really do go off!

I got right down the front with my camera and got some good shots (as you can see here).

The lineup was Neil and George (of course), plus Stan Satour on bass and Bill Heckenberg (Whitlams, Rainmakers) on drums.

The setlist was as follows: Waru, Jailanguru Pakarnu, Stars, Djulpan (featuring George on acoustic guitar!), Cold Weather, Joining My Life, Marrayilyil, Kintorelakutu, Fitzroy Crossing, Koori Man, My Countryside, We Shall Cry, Stompin' Ground, From The Bush, Blackfella Whitefella, a song George claimed to have written the day before about people trying to bum cigarettes and lifts from him, and My Island Home as the encore. The band was really tight although George forgot the words a couple of times and came in at the wrong time in a couple of songs. The look on Neil's face suggested he's used to covering George's timing errors, reminding him of the words etc. After the show Neil said the foldback on stage was really bad and he couldn't hear the vocals very well, but it sounded fine out the front!

Once again I was struck by what a good guitarist Neil is. He definitely has a unique style. I'd have expected one guitar to be not enough for some songs, but the way Neil plays it doesn't sound like anything's missing. George loves to play for the crowd, pulling out all the moves, jumping around and being, as he himself declared, a "big rock star". For their part, the crowd treated him like one too.

After the show I went out the back and met the band. I hadn't met Neil before, but he's exactly as I'd expected - very down-to-earth casual sort of bloke. I took my Too Much Humbug CD in and got all the band the sign the cover. George was the center of attention for most people, with a big line waiting to see him, so I didn't talk to him at all, just got my CD signed.

Had a good chat to Neil and Bill. Neil knew about the website and 'Dust', though he hasn't seen it. He was surprised (and seemed quite flattered) that I'd taken the time to transcribe all the songs. His comment was that he could look them up and find out how to play some of the old ones. When Bill came over Neil told him I had all the songs scored out and Bill made exactly the same comment!

I still had a couple of shots left in my camera to get a photo with Neil or maybe with the whole band, but he looked absolutely stuffed after the show. I didn't want to hassle him any more than necessary, so I didn't get the camera out.

That's about it I guess, except to report that the band will be playing Stompem Ground in Broome on October 14th, so hopefully we'll get a bit of TV coverage of that.

All in all, a great show. I'm glad I finally got a chance to see the band after all these years!

More photos...