Date: 08-07-1999

Venue: The Palladium, Sydney

SUPPORTed: Paul Kelly

notes: This was a special acoustic performance by Paul Kelly, accompanied by keyboardist Bruce Haymes, to launch "Don't Start Me Talking", his newly published book of song lyrics. At various stages of the evening, Kelly would introduce a guest to the stage, giving them room to interpret three or four of his songs. On this evening, Paul Kelly was joined by Renee Geyer, Vika & Linda Bull and Tim Rogers.

setlist:
Charlie Owen's Slide Guitar, I'd Rather Go Blind, When I First Met Your Ma
Guitar and backing vocals on: We Started A Fire, Words And Music

Review:
"I was playing with Spencer Jones in the middle of America somewhere, and I broke a guitar string, and this guy came up out of the audience and offered to fix the string for me. So I played an electric for a couple of songs and it only took this guy one or two songs to change the string, and it came back in tune, and I thought 'that's not bad for some guy out of the audience in a folk club in Pittsburgh'. Then the guy's disappeared, and we finished the set, and then afterwards I said to Spencer 'y'know, that guy looked a lot like Tim Rogers' and Spencer said 'that was Tim Rogers', and that's how I met Tim Rogers. Please welcome him."

Paul Kelly filed off the small, crowded stage of the Palladium night club and welcomed on Tim Rogers, immaculately dressed in a dark blue, pinstriped suit, to a wildly approving crowd. "Thank you. This song is called 'Charlie Owen's Slide Guitar'", Tim began, and launched into Paul Kelly's bluesy salute to one of Australia's great unsung guitar players. He threw himself into the song with blind, blustery determination, his voice hitting every note right on the head and making for a passionate tribute.

"Beg your pardon for all the yelling, but coming on after Renee Geyer is a fuckin' hard job", Tim laughed and kicked into the beautifully choral love ballad "I'd Rather Go Blind", finding the wounded heart in this sweet sounding but dark hued song of obsession and romantic desperation. The soaring backing vocals of Renee Geyer and Vika & Linda Bull gave it even more of a kick.

"You might be gay, but Renee's gayer", Paul Kelly quipped as he came back onto the stage for Tim's final lead vocal. "Have you ever told that story about your dad, Renee? What did he say? All the music out there these days is shit, but your shit's better than all that other shit?" Tim asked Renee.

"All that music is shit, but my daughter's shit is the best shit. If you knew my father you would understand that that's a big compliment. He's a Marlboro man" came the salty reply.

"I've only got three wishes in this world. The first one involves a certain football team and a certain premiership, and I'm certainly gonna be there. And the third one is the most important one, and that's that one day I can write a song like this to sing to my kids one day. And so this is for Karen and Rocio. Once again, thank you". It could only be one song, and Tim performed a truly beautiful version of Paul Kelly's truly beautiful "When I First Met Your Ma", with Kelly backing up on harmonica (and some very funny bass-level backing vocals, to which Tim cracked "I'll give you twenty bucks if you do that again"), and Renee Geyer and Vika & Linda Bull once again lending their soulful voices.

Tim split to big cheers, and returned a couple of songs later to throw in some funky guitar playing behind Vika & Linda Bull's lilting take on "We Started A Fire". As Tim unassumingly slipped off stage again, Renee Geyer threw some good natured ribbing at the new kid on the block. "That guy looked like Tim Rogers. Or was that the guy from Snout?".

Tim returned again for more guitar playing on the rousing group finale of "Words And Music", but had trouble getting mike space on the backing vocals because he was about a foot taller than everyone else on stage, though Linda Bull kept warmly encouraging him. A big, festive night had come to a big festive close, and Tim's call at the following night's Casa Del Resaca gig in Melbourne that he'd been up all night partying indelibly proves that the good vibes on-stage probably kept rolling once the show had finished.

- Erin Free