It’s always a great night when you get to catch one of the country’s finest acoustic guitar players… and it’s even better when it’s at the wonderfully intimate Lyric’s Underground, one of Perth’s hidden gems of a live music venue. Tonight, was the second of three WA shows for Lloyd Spiegel and the second sell-out show in as many nights.
With drumming sidekick Tim Burnham adding the beats, the long standing couple have now become a truple, with the wonderful Lisa Baird adding the fabulous sounds of her trombone to the set of songs, giving an extra jazzy element – and it was a match made in heaven in a venue made for such a night.
As the crowd settled in, it was Burnham’s beat that echoed in from the foyer as he marched through from the rear of the venue, followed by the trombone playing Baird, with Spiegel following-up singing the fabulous ‘Kansas City Katy’ through a megaphone – talk about an entrance of grandeur. Tonight’s set was celebrating the release of ‘Bakehouse Dozen’, Spiegel’s latest musical offering.
‘Bakehouse Dozen’ sees Lloyd and his crew playing some tried and tested musical wonders but with the added dimension of Lisa’s talents and tones and recorded in a live setting (but with no one actually there, as Lloyd points out). As per most of his shows the merch desk was cleared of vinyl pretty quickly, a wonderful testament to Lloyd’s music and his fans eagerness to keep buying physical copies. Tonight, we were treated to eight tracks from the album plus a host of crowd favourites like ‘Rock and a Hard Place’, ‘2:19’ and ‘Murder for Breakfast’.
One of the spellbinding parts of a Lloyd Spiegel show isn’t just the exceptional musicianship but also the wonderful stories and anecdotes, with tonight being no exception. We heard of his recent tours to Canada where he dodged bears, moose and other animals as he drove from town to town, braving ridiculously cold weather to play to his faithful fans. We also heard all about ‘Big Things’ with a wonderful tale of a town buying one just because they got it at a cost price – hilarious!
We also got a fairly in-depth introduction to his latest guitar, a Cole Clark beauty, made especially for ‘the guinea pig’, a term Lloyd refers to himself as at various times of the evening when talking about working for the Melbourne guitar company, and by God does Spiegel know how to get the best out of it! ‘Alligator Shoes’ and ‘All the Cats are Grey’ continue the night, as the crowd looked on, mouths open wide as Spiegel’s fingers danced up and down the frets. The night closed with John Lee Hooker’s ‘This is Hip’.
A spellbinding night with one of our countries finest! With plenty of dates left to play, if Lloyd Spiegel and his band of merry musos are in town, don’t hesitate to get out and go see them. You’ll smile all night from the music, tales and magic. Fabulous.
Photos by Mark Diggins
