Live Video of The Church from 1991 at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney
from the tour supporting the release of the album 'Priest=Aura'. NTSC
and PAL copies are available. [Email
for more info]
Live Review - Sando, Sydney 7th August 2003
By: Julia de Meyrick
Incense fills the air, red curtains, tea-lights on the tables and he begins with the divine Luscious Ghost.
Slowly, imperceptably, he shapes a performance that touches on so many nuances of emotion, that resonates with truth and pain and beauty. And the man is really amusing.
Marty Willson-Piper "two L's, one-hyphen and no bullshit", as Steve was once wont to describe him. Poet, scholar, part-time matador, unbelievably good guitarist.
What amazes me is how much he gives, regardless of the size of the audience (and this one is ridiculously small). I want to go out afterwards and scream from the rooftops "Hey, don't you know what you're missing ??!" But I've always been scared of heights. Why this man isn't hugely famous and disgustingly rich is an enduring mystery to me. As a solo performer, it's almost impossible to think of anyone who has all his attributes. But back to the set list : gorgeous songs from Noctorum like Hey There, High As a Kite, Aujourd'hui (dedicated to the French for saying "Non" ), Ugly and Cruel (should be re-recorded), joined by the band (Tim & friends) for the beautiful You Bring Your Love, Chromium, Forever (a song that Germans keep telling him "Vee had ziss zong at our vedding !"), My Museum, Hymn.
Somewhere in there is the dazzling 10,000 miles. When his right hand is a blur of frenzied strumming, hair falling in his eyes and his whole body possessed by the music - you wonder how so much power can come from two hands, one voice, one battered 12-string stuck together with gaffa tape. It's cathartic, unstoppable, ecstatic. You cannot help but surrender to it, and at the song's final flourish there is a moment of pure, breathless pleasure that is close to perfection. You want to curl up and go to sleep because surely there is nowhere left to go.
But he still has somewhere to take us - and carefully we are drawn into the story of Pinochet's Chile, 1973, and the fate of a Chilean songwriter and activist who was one of his many victims. "They broke his hands and said 'now try and play guitar', so he sang and then they shot him and threw him in the street." says Marty. This is a genuinely moving and powerful new song (I think it's called Hear My Song) Not many songwriters outside of folk music can express themselves politically without sounding contrived (think Sting et al - ugh...), but this is yet another aspect of Marty's many talents. (ok, I'll stop there, shall I Marty ?!)
There's another new song about heroin addiction, which I believe is called Getting High Down Below (? will check next week ), then he reads us some Lorca, plays the lovely Water, I Don't Think So (actually this is always paired with Forever for dramatic contrast & the fifth fret thing), Into My Hands, Forget the Radio (with band). Marty hears me say I've missed my train, so he suggests "come back to my place and I'll play songs to you all night..." Just as I'm drifting off into fantasy he ruins it all by adding "and then we'll talk about prog rock until 7am..." Forget the talking - just play, play, play.
It's Will I Start To Bleed, then it's time to go home. He says "I was going to leave you with beauty, but instead I'm leaving you with power " as he launches into the spectacular Spark (more flailing fingers ). He's wrong there - because Marty's music is where beauty and power wander hand-in-hand. And his voice - better than it's ever been : caressing, scathing, potent, elegant. That lavish, evocative imagery he plays with in his lyrics...
Same Time Next Week - wish you could all be there. (It seems selfish
of us to have Marty all to ourselves, like hiding some precious artwork
in a dusty cupboard.)