MARCEL
BORRACK CD LAUNCH
EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB - 13 MAY 2006
 Marcel Borrack CD Launch - 13 May 2006 The Yearlings, Barb Waters & Marcel Borrack |
The East Brunswick Club is an old/new venue for live music. It is housed in the East Brunswick Hotel once the haunt of the Melbourne Folk Scene. The band room has been renovated and is now a sizable space with a big stage, given favourable comment by the performers on Saturday night.
This particular Saturday night Marcel Borrack was there to launch his latest CD I Was Only Dreaming with help from other musical friends, The Yearlings and Sime Nugent.
THE YEARLINGS
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First to take the stage was Adelaide duo, The Yearlings. They are Robyn Chalklen and Chris Parkinson who style themselves, as suggested by their name, on Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. They gave a laid back performance of songs mostly drawn from their CD Wind Already Blown, released last year to very favourable reviews from the music press.
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The Yearlings style is very reminiscent of the Nashville pair, even down to the gyrations of Chris Parkinson's guitar playing ala David Rawlings. Despite this similarity, the Yearlings write their own music, which is appealing, dreamy and down home. They take turns leading the vocals, sing lovely harmonies, ornamented with intertwined guitar accompaniments. Their set was the perfect opener to start the night - slow, steady and sweet.
SIME NUGENT
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Sime Nugent upped the ante with a fine performance, solo and with his band, The Forefathers. I had only seen him perform once before at a Basement Discs in-store last year and was impressed then, so was glad to have the opportunity to see him again. His act is instantly arresting - both in the power of his voice and in the quality of his song writing - causing one to wonder why he is not a household name. He has 10 albums to his name, but he predominantly sang songs from his solo effort of last year Broke and Banned Songs of Sime Nugent and The Undertow and More About The Benefits Of Hindsight released 2003 and 2002 with his band. Sime Nugent> |
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MARCEL BORRACK & THE LITTLE CHAMPS
Sime Nugent remarked during his set that if there were to be an award for the nicest guy in rock n' roll it would have to be won by Marcel Borrack.
Marcel is a Melbourne singer-songwriter and his songs have a local flavour. One of the songs from his new CD I Was Only Dreaming called "Regent to Ruthven" refers to trains on the Epping Line. It is about the changed circumstances in public transport in Melbourne over the past decade. It is a damnation on privatisation, ticketing machines etc. In the song "Down In New York" he's walking the streets of the Big Apple thinking about Fitzroy.
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With his band, and supported by guest appearances from Barb Waters and The Yearlings, Marcel's set was very enjoyable. He alternated between acoustic and electric guitars while the Little Champs, who are Andy Papadopoulos on bass, Barry Turnbull on pedal steel and guitar and Al Barden on drums, provided excellent backing. I didn't catch the title of the first song, but the second "My Pony" got my attention with Marcel calling on the support of The Yearlings and Barb Waters who sang harmonies on this and the next song, "Losing Somehow". He
drew on songs from his first CD Help and of course performed
most of his new album. |
After performing 14 songs in his set, he retired from the stage only to be drawn back for an encore.
He performed his quirky little song "If I Were An Ant" dedicated to someone called Chrissie, in solo acoustic mode, then called back the band to sing two more songs, ending with the appropriately titled "The End Of The Night"
Marcel Borrack has an attractive stage presence. His slightly nasal voice is light and easy to listen to. Coupled with the quirkiness of his song writing and his ability to create instantly likeable pop rock tunes, his set was the culmination of a very fine night's entertainment. Help was a very good CD, but I Was Only Dreaming builds on the promise of the earlier release and delivers one hundred percent.
The most interesting aspect of the night's line-up was that all the artists predominantly performed their own material. It is comforting to know that there are so many talented young artists out there, carrying on the great tradition of Australian roots music.
Set Lists (may not be in the order sung)
THE
YEARLINGS
1. AND I PRAY
2. USED TO THE FEELING
3. I BELIEVE
4. WIND ALREADY BLOWN
5. WILL YOU BE READY
6. FOREVER AND A DAY
7. KEEP A HOLD
8. SHINE LIKE DIAMONDS
9. FALLEN STAR
10. GOLDEN DOVE
SIME
NUGENT
1. GENTLE AS SHE GOES
2. AFRAID
3. HAPPY MAN
4. THE UNDERTOW
5. HERE SHE COMES
6. HULLO BELLE
7. PORNO STAR WARS
8. ONLY ONE WATER
9. JESUS GONNA BE HERE
MARCEL
BORRACK & THE LITTLE CHAMPS
1. ?
2. MY PONY
3. LOSIN' SOMEHOW
4. GONE SO SOON
5. GO TO SLEEP
6. REGENT TO RUTHVEN
7. LOST MY WAY
8. DOWN IN NEW YORK
9. HELP
10. I WAS ONLY DREAMING
11. JANUARY
12. WILLIAM ARTHUR'S HERE
13. SUBMARINE
14. NEW BLUE BUTTON-DOWN
ENCORE
1. IF I WERE AN ANT
2. PELHAM ROAD
3. THE END OF THE NIGHT
Review and photos by Anne Sydenham