Tim Rogers – The Stable, Griffin Theatre, Sydney 03rd May 2012

This show was an encore of sorts to a performance of  “The Story of Mary Maclane by Herself”, a play Tim is currently acting in and providing music to.  I had been keen to check the play out and when this and two other solo shows were announced the 3^rd of May shows were picked. 

Tim arrived on the Stable stage in a relaxed version of his costume from the nights play.  Tonight’s set was focusing on new tracks from Tim’s soon to be released solo album “Bring Me Scissors You Lazy Bastard” (this may not be the final title).  Armed with a two acoustics the new songs were quite laidback and restrained, almost Alt Country.  Two songs from Tim’s Saligia show “Walking Past the Bars” and “Sins of the Father” have been reworked and are sounding better than they did in their previous incarnations.  “I Didn't Plan To Be Here Either” was first up and sounded like it would fit comfortably on Tim’s "Spit Polish" album.   “Part-time Dad’s” as a quirky number that has a fantastic chorus with a Nick Drake or Rodriguez feel to it.  Nice tune with some trademark comedic lyrical twists.  “Spark and Fold” reminded me of “Get Drunk, Ring Your Friends” of the "Dress Me Slowly" bonus disc.  It’s an upbeat tune that waits quite a while to bring out the chorus which again was fantastic.  “FJ Holden” is a quiet number and an ode to Tim’s father who owned an FJ Holden back in the day.  The lyrics are very personal in places in particular one line “I never planned to be a divorced Dad too”.  A really sweet song.  “Wish You Were Here” is a song that Tim wrote for the film of the same name and is sung by Megan Washington on the soundtrack.  Although it’s not on the new record Tim gave it a spin.  The song is very stripped back and slow.  A nice tune but Tim struggled vocally on this one.  “All Or Nothing This Time” is a slow bluesy tune.  The song has a slow build and includes the fantastic line “We both burst like geyers”.  The final of the new songs “Driving At Night” is the first single from the new album and is the most different of the songs.  The song has a Rolling Stones feel to it and is a mid paced rocker.  The melody reminded me of the title track from Tim’s previous album “The Luxury of Hysteria”.  I’m looking forward to hearing this one on the album.  A really fun tune.

 The rest of the set was a selection of older tunes.  “Older Guys”, “Weeds” and “Trigger Finger” were all great but the highlight was “The Loneliest Folk In The World”.  This was a request from the audience and was a song that Tim’s hadn’t played in a while so he wasn’t sure he could remember it all.  He started off well but the more he got into the song he struggled with the lyrics.  But luckily the gent who had requested it was there to feed him the lines which was fantastic.  It was like a collective achievement when he actually finished the song.  A real show of class from Mr Rogers. 

In a venue that only holds 100 people this was a real treat for a Tim Rogers fan like myself.  Keep it up Timmy.

Tim Rogers Setlist:

I Didn't Plan To Be Here Either

Walking Past the Bars

Part-time Dads

Spark and Fold*

FJ Holden

Sins Of The Father

Wish You Were Here*

Older Guys

Dinosaurs

Paragon Cafe

Weeds

All Or Nothing This Time*

Driving At Night

The Loneliest Folk In The World

Time And Distance

Trigger Finger

* Unsure of song title