I saw Kip Winger last Saturday at the Melodic Rock Fest in Melbourne and his set was awesome, but tonight the faithful of Perth got to see him play a full acoustic set that took things up another notch. If I’m completely honest it was a sight to behold, and in all my 35 years of gig-going this would have to be one of the most entertaining nights I’ve ever witnessed. It had it all, wonderful music, great stories, dry wit and a wonderful sound that even Kip himself remarked on. Man the Rosie sounded good tonight…
Prior to last week I’d only seen Winger twice before – once back in the day in the UK in 1991 at the NEC in Birmingham when they supported Scorpions on the ‘In the Heart of the Young’ Tour and many years later in 2007 when Winger played in Sydney with Ratt. These were my first shows seeing Kip acoustic though and it was a real treat to see.
As a warm up Perth’s very own Ragdoll hit the stage and fired up the partisan crowd with largely new numbers but a few older tunes. They sounded great as always and tonight marked the final date of their tour which had also seen them grace the Melodic Rock stage and play other dates with Kip over East.
Kip took the stage to a huge round of applause that seemed to never end. You can forgive the people of Perth for that though, thinking this day would never come, seeing such a legend of 80’s rock on such a relatively small stage and in such an intimate setting. Kip of course has done so much since the Winger days and we caught a snatch of that tonight with solo material as well as an excerpt from his musical.
Opening with ‘Cross’ from 2001’s ‘Songs from the Ocean Floor’ it’s both a great way to open and set up the sound with Robby Rothschild on percussion such an essential part of the evening and also a great way to gauge how many know Kip’s solo catalogue. And with the Winger classic ‘Easy Come Easy Go’ up next the singalong has begun and it really doesn’t end all night!
‘Who’s the One’ keeps the party going and then we’re treated to a memory from the Melodic Rock Fest when Kip tells us the story of the shouted request (which he’s encouraging tonight) “At the Melodic Rock Fest in Melbourne these two dudes in the audience kept shouting “Bottles of Wine” I told them I don’t do that song – they were asking for ‘Miles Away’, it was a very thick accent.” it’s an anecdote delivered with a wonderful dryness.
The magic of the show tonight is that perfect combination of timeless songs, an intimate setting, great stories and wonderful musicianship. It’s amazing the sounds that Kip can get out of his acoustic that has seen him through the whole tour and the backing from Robby makes it more than just an acoustic show.
‘Can’t Get Enuff’ of course is a song that has everyone in the room moving and it’s a straighter take on the song than we got in Melbourne with another great sing-along, and we keep with classic Winger for ‘Hungry’ which sees Kip hit the highs and show us just how well that voice has held up over the years: it’s revelatory!
Then quite unexpectedly and with a little audience prompting we get a little of ‘Deal With the Devil’ from the ‘Karma’ album, a song that Kip doesn’t normally do in this acoustic format, indeed he tells us : “Man we never did that song before.” Before he adds that he does play it with his band and that he’ll come back with them and play it,and that’s not the only promise of a visit from Winger the band before the end of the night either!
For for a change of pace we get ‘Ever Wonder’ (with “extra reverb but no karaoke”) and the beautiful ‘Rainbow in the Rose’ take us to entirely different places and Kip again gets to show his chops.
One of the showpieces comes with an audience member reacting to Kip’s question “Who wants to sing ‘Miles Away’ with me?” It’s Troy who just happens to be Ragdoll’s co-producer and who I last saw sing when he came second to Ryan (yes Ragdoll’s Ryan) in a karaoke competition at Buffalo Wild Wings in Oklahoma City! It’s funny how all these things meet here at probably one of the last live shows we’ll see for a while in Perth. Troy of course does a great job and backed by the crowd you can’t loose. ‘Miles Away’ was never one of my favourite Winger songs but I caved tonight!
On a night that is probably one of the shows I have most enjoyed over my 35 years of gigging there’s plenty more treats to come as Kip even manages to squeeze in a little INXS but before that we get “A song for the love of my life” ‘Spell I’m Under ‘- It gets one of the biggest rounds of applause of the night.
“I normally go to the piano now but…” Kip pauses “How many can I play? It’s my last show in Australia, I want to play a little extra shit” Someone asks (as we Aussies do) if he wants a beer “I don’t drink.” He tells us “When I was drinking I couldn’t sing and I didn’t want to be the guy that you came to see and would say ‘what happened to that guy’ I want to be able to sing every motherfucking note as long as I can.” there’s a huge round of applause and a bigger one when he adds “So you guys drink and I’ll sing!”
And we do just that to a song off Kip’s first solo record ‘Steam’ it’s a rare treat, as is the one from that follows from his latest ‘Nothing.’ Both of course sound great. And then he’s onto the piano after praising the sound man Jim and the speakers at the Rosie. “I play a lot of places and this is one of the best ones.” Robbie adds that they’re going to sail the whole building back to the US after the show.
A couple of songs from ‘From the Moon to the Sun’ follow as Kip hits the keys – the yearning ‘Pages and Pages’ and the Beatlesque ‘Where Will You Go’ which has to be one of my favorite solo songs.
Kip of course has many projects and aside from his ballet and operatic works he also has a musical ‘Get Jack’ that he wrote over three years and is looking for a home, and we get a snatch of that in ‘A Requiem for Nothing.’ It’s another unexpected treat, as is the next tune when we get one of my favoutite Winger songs ‘Under One Condition’ – it’s a beautiful version too.
It’s been a great night but there’s still more – first we get ‘Free’ that Kip wrote in Egypt in 1998 it’s a buzzing instrumental full of mystery and we sample a little INXS before another favourite ‘Down Incognito’ which is made for this type of treatment.
Sadly after a great night things have to come to an end but most of those here tonight reckon Kip and Robbie have saved the best till last. We close with ‘Madalaine’ and the iconic ‘Seventeen’ which almost literally bows the roof off the place in a combined outpouring of sheer joy.
We’re left with a more than satisfied crowd on the last night of Kip’s Australian tour and before he leaves the stage he reminds us he’ll be back “Thanks for coming out on a Monday night. I’m gonna bring my band back. Please come out and see us when we come.”
What a night Perth! If you missed this you missed one of the very best shows you’ll see in this City.
