Diesel hit WA to celebrate his ‘Forever’ Tour with a show at the generously attended Regal Theatre in Subiaco, Perth at the weekend. Having caught his solo show last time he ventured over to WA (apart from his one-off appearance at the recent Ravo Blues & Roots Fest), I half knew what to expect but oh how wrong I was. Once again we were treated to a striped down set but this time there was more intricate rearrangements of the songs as well as some ‘from-the-heart’ tales of when, why and how the studio versions of the tracks were laid down, many of which were created during darker covid times.
The first half of the show (forty minutes) was a bluesy & emotive trip through Diesel’s influences with some tracks from Lizotte’s highly praised 2021 release ‘Alone With Blues’ thrown in for good measure. The dimly lit stage added to the ambience as Diesel headed for his monster of a double bass before gliding into Sam Cooke’s ‘Lost & Lookin’, with its slow, moody transitions, which eased us into the evening. Lizotte immediately thanked the gathered crowd, highlighting just how important every single person’s support has been to live music and to artists, a genuine appreciation to an art form that is still feeling the pinch from the pandemic and will do for quite some time.
The opening set gave the multi-instrumentalist a chance to dust off his fine collection of guitars, (both electric & acoustic) as he danced between country influences & bluesy riffs. Stories of the great Michael Gudinski gave us a brief insight into Diesel’s journey and the references to his father’s record collection gave us an insight into what he was picking up musically as an enthusiastic kid. He was only five or six when he first heard Willie Dixon’s ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ but even then he knew one day he had to record it, and with his white strat across his shoulder he shared the track with us.
The second half of the show saw us treated to a much wider selection of tracks from Diesel’s long standing career, with rearrangements of his biggest hits as well as some songs from latest release ‘Bootleg Melancholy’, with the opening track ‘Forever’ kicking off the much longer main set. ‘Soul Revival’ from the 1989 self-titled Johnny Diesel & The Injectors was delivered via twelve string acoustic and harmonica with hand fist percussion – simply stunning… and of course we were encouraged to join in with the chorus at every opportune moment.
‘Masterplan’ was equally well received with Diesel showcasing his clean vocals and showing he has only got better over the years. Bootleg Melancholy’s ‘Pasadena’ shows that the quality of his song writing has never diminished, as Lizotte credited his sound man ‘Wazza’ for always making sound so good. And the hits kept coming; ‘All Come Together’, ‘Feet of Snow’ and ‘One More Time’ sounded fresh but familiar as did Diesel anthems ‘Come to Me’ and ‘Tip of Your Tongue’.
After a brief absence from stage Lizotte strode back to launch the double bass back to its foot before plating the 1930-something version of ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ before performing an extended and near faultless version of ‘Cryin Shame’ before taking a bow to the audience who by now had all raised to their feet in unison to applaud one of our country’s finest musicians. A large theatre it maybe but tonight gave a real sense of intimacy as well as a trip back through Marl’s Lizotte’s thirty five year song book. Breath-taking.
With thanks to Nadia at On The Map PR.
Photos by Hunter Brothers Media.