Guitar lovers were in for a special treat Tuesday night at a packed Astor Theatre when Rodrigo Y Gabriela delivered an absolute master class in pushing an acoustic guitar to its limits. Superbly supported by the talented Daniel Champagne, tonight’s show either fuelled the fires of the amateur guitarists present or completely doused them! The talents on display were jaw dropping to say the least.
NSW born entertainer Daniel Champagne, now living in Nashville, opened proceedings with an impressive solo set of song and instrumentation that verged on an almost dislike for the acoustic guitar that he was playing. In an entertaining, full body performance, Champagne punched, scratched and physically wrestled beats and harmonics from his instrument to build beautiful atmospheric and sonic landscapes in a completely unique way. At times his exaggerated movements were Peter Garrett-esque as his body contorted and limbs flailed wildly while he ambushed his guitar. Even the mundane task of tuning his guitar was made entertaining. This was a super talented musician that was as mesmerising to watch as hear. This was a great way to warm up an already eager crowd and worth the entry fee alone.
Rarely do you see an audience as passionate about the main event as witnessed tonight. There was a real buzz in the air before Rodrigo Y Gabriel took to the stage that this crowd had some very high expectations, and they were not let down. A huge applause welcomed Rodrigo onto stage to start the show with an equally rapturous reception for Gabriela as she emerged from the shadows to join her partner. A Rodrigo Y Gabriel performance is an amazing audio, light and visual experience that comes with some surprising contradictions.
- For starters the sound is huge and you would be forgiven for thinking there were 20 musicians on stage, not two. At times Gabriela’s percussion on the woodwork of her guitar felt like a herd of wild horses running through the venue.
- With a large screen behind the duo blasting out images and a lighting set up to match, the show feels epic and arena sized and yet, the sparseness of the stage with the focus solely on Rodrigo Y Gabriel, also lends itself beautifully to the intimacy of a lounge room. Some quiet moments were so intimate that the music itself was overpowered by the shoosher’s desperately chasing that echo chamber silence an overly excited audience was never going to deliver.
- The exhausting intensity of these musicians can be quite overpowering at times as displayed by the response from the appreciative front rows, only to be down played by an engaging Gabriela during a break in songs as she explained that they liked to keep their shows quite ‘casual’.
Another great feature of the show were cameras mounted on the guitars with live images beamed onto the back screen giving every guitar god wannabe, a birds eye view down the fret board. This alone probably sent a few campfire guitars back into cupboards all around Perth. The duo put in an exhausting 100 minutes of guitar work and never missed a beat. Favourites were played, new songs were aired and an epic finale of Rage Against The Machines ‘Killing In The Name’ made sure everyone left the venue totally satisfied. The appreciative pair bowed and thanked the thrilled audience to the sound of ACDC’s ‘For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)’, and for an acoustic, Spanish influenced two-piece, even this seemed like a contradiction, and yet it wasn’t.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Sharon Burgess Photography
