Andy J Ryan Mar 20, 2023

Okkervil River - @Newtown, 7 September 2006
The Black Sheep Boys flowed down the River of Broken Dreams, to bring their full band back to Australia.†
The Model School offers up a dash of rambling folk rock. The musical outlet for songwriter Brendan Wixted, his assembled band played steadfast and easily agreeable music which caused a few murmurs around the politely assembled and largely seated crowd.
Jack Ladder is a slightly awkward, somewhat ungainly lad. Standing stooped and solo at the microphone, he is imposing in height and voice with a deep, rich and at times jolting vocal style. While normally an astute performer, Ladder started nervously - the 'seat-offish' crowd may have thrown him a bit. A fluffed attempt at audience interaction led to a lyrical stumble or two, and you couldn't help feeling for the lad. He topically gave his track Two Clocks the new name ,Two Crocs as a tribute to Steve Irwin, and then won everyone over with a tale about an ex-girlfriend being an escort for Ian Thorpe. (Apparently he was "not really into it" - though forget you just read that, as it wasn't supposed to leave the room.) Revealing he and the Okkervil River guys were planning to do a Tim Hardin tribute act, he slipped in a Hardin cover and finished strongly with Black Hole Blues, then the title track of his album played and was warmly appreciated.

Okkervil River walks on to an adoring reception. Having visited Australia for the first time in February, such was the response they have returned in full-band mode. Singer and main songwriter Will Sheff has no shortage of intensity, his ramshackle delivery forgiven by the sheer quality of the songs: introspective to the point of anguished, yet cuttingly powerful. Sheff almost cathartically puts so much of himself into the songs, at times so intensely involved in the narratives he emerges from them rather than just finishes singing them. The rawness and human frailty alluded to in his songs is reflected in Sheff's personality. At one point he asked for "a scream from way back down the rear of the hall right up to the front" and when we duly respond he replied, "thank you, that's all we came here for, the rest of the night is just the cuddles part of the evening".

The band complements the songs with some wonderfully intuitive playing. The various members are capable multi-instrumentalists, with mandolin and trumpets adding unexpected but fitting flourishes. Drummer Travis Nelsen is a perfect jovial foil to singer Sheff's intensity. The band introduces tracks from their new Australian-only tour EP and also delve into their (unfortunately largely unavailable in Australia) back catalogue. The up-tempo numbers, including For Real, Black from last year's Black Sheep Boy album and Westfall from 2002's Don't Fall in Love With Everyone You See, are fairly rollicking. Their own Tim Hardin cover, Black Sheep Boy, is particularly haunting, the vocals stretched to breaking point and the quieter moments respectfully left so.

The set ends with the band genuinely thankful for our attendance, leaving the crowd suspended in compelling anticipation of an encore. Sheff emerges with just an acoustic guitar and a surprisingly sparse version of Sloop John B that morphs into punk rock pace as other band members return to the stage to reclaim their posts. A pent-up finale and the band leaves for the last time with Sheff chanting a scream of "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry"... for what, we could never be sure, as not a single person in the audience had any reason to have any sorrows about the beguilingly brilliant performance.