• Emily Barker in Merredin. All photos by Les Everett.
Canadian singer-songwriter Charlie A’Court spoke of synchronicity when he took to the stage in Merredin for The Festival of Small Halls. The small halls concept started in Canada, he told us, Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island to be exact. He mentioned too that he lived now in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Back to that later.
For the Festival of Small Halls A’Court and Australian Emily Barker are playing shows in halls all around the place. Spots many would never have heard of. Spots I know well because of my strange obsession with abandoned cricket pitches and footy scoreboards.
The festival program lists shows in Bulyee, Corrigin, Nannup, Mt Magnet, Nanson, Lake Grace, Kendenup, Perenjori, Badgingarra, Yorkrakine, Tambellup, Augusta and White Gum Valley among others. I’ve snapped pitches and scoreboards in those places – and often a quick pic of the hall.
This wasn’t the show I’d imagined. The plan was to see a live performance in Merredin’s mighty Cummins Hall. What happened was a much more intimate gathering in the Tivoli Theatre next door.
It wasn’t the show I’d imagined but I can’t imagine anything much better. A’Court (pictured) and Barker each played half a dozen songs then combined for a couple more. Something was happening in the audience. People were singing along, humming along, even keeping the beat. These weren’t songs they knew, they were listening intently, taking the music in. Music, as A’Court mentioned early in the night, is good for you.
As preparation I’d listened to a lot of A’Court and Barker in the weeks leading up to the trip to Merredin. Barker’s songs Nostalgia and Pause ended up on UK TV shows, I’d noticed references to Melbourne and was that our Blackwood River she sang about? I wondered where she was from. Turned out I was in for a bit more synchronicity – Emily Barker is from Bridgetown and now based in Fremantle. Oh well, how was I supposed to know?
This brings us back to Canada and a musical story that involved, believe it or not, experiences in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island and our base in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. How’s that for synchronicity?
I was going to start by saying live music wasn’t the reason for our visit to Canada. It was the rekindling of a trip snuffed out by COVID.
But as the first thing we booked was tickets to Bruce Springsteen in Montreal it could be argued live music was going to be a central part of the Canadian experience.
We got off to a quick start. Michael Kiwanuka (long on the must-see list) was playing at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver just days after our arrival. Turns out MK was the middle of three acts on the night.
Guitarist Yasmin Williams (above) kicked things off. I would have been happy to spend a lot more time with her.
Kiwanuka came on with a big band. This was no ordinary support act. Cold Little Heart hit the spot as expected while Love and Hate was also a highlight. I loved Hero and Light too. Strangely there was no Black Man in a White World. I noticed a few song-list hunters at the stage after MK’s performance (like our own Song List Rat). One let me photograph his find before scurrying away.
I must admit I didn’t know much about Brittany Howard, once of the Alabama Shakers. She’s a powerful presence so soon had a new fan.
The Fairmont Airport Hotel in Vancouver has live music every evening. Dave Martone was the one who caught my ear. He’s a guitarist who seemed to go off in all sorts of directions. Starting with a theme, say the intro to House of the Rising Sun, improvising then coming back. That old airport didn’t get me down.
• At The Old Triangle Charlottetown
I have a rule about Irish music in pubs. The musicians must be seated. It’s probably best that the pub is in Ireland too but you can’t always manage that. We went to The Old Triangle pub in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on the promise of Irish music. Centrally located was a table occupied by about dozen musicians seated with guitars and fiddles and things to tap and blow. Did the trick.
Dartmouth is a music town. Home of Joel Plaskett and, as I now know, Charlie A’Court. Every now and again there’s a special little event at 45 Portland Street the home of Taz Records and Morley’s Coffee. You buy your ticket for Window Inn Wednesday knowing there’s going to be live music but don’t know who it will be. Queue up, get a seat or spot to stand and see what’s to be.
We saw Alexander Gallant (also our barista at Morley’s in the morning), Cassie Noble, Game Keeper and Mike T Kerr each doing just a song or two. Then we were led in the recording studio out the back where Bill Stevenson, once part of the late-60s band Earth Opera, was waiting behind the piano ready to bring us some blues. As the last note faded I snapped a photo, so technically, perhaps, did not break the no-camera rule – wouldn’t want you to think I’m some kind of rock ’n roll rebel.
• Bill Stevenson trio. Dartmouth.
Centre Bell, Montreal 31 October 2024. I tried to guess the Halloween song they’d open with – Ghost Busters – didn’t get that. I love short shows like the ones mentioned in Merredin and Dartmouth. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band don’t do short shows and I’m glad about that cos once they start I don’t want them to end. The Montreal crowd was great, the band was great. They did Racing In The Street. It was pre-election so hope and dreams were still alive.
Later back in Dartmouth for morning coffee a few days after 5 November I overheard a conversation. Someone had heard from someone who’d seen Bruce in Ottawa a couple of days after the election.
“Apparently it was intense.”
Hope and dreams still exist. And don’t forget that music is good for you.
A live show at the Cummins Hall in Merredin remains on my to-do list.
australianrules.com.au 