Live Review: Eskimo Joe

“At the ARIAs, we were looking like dorks to a school ball, and every time Jet walked up, they don’t look like dorks in a school ball. They look like rock stars, and that’s when the penny drops; it is not just about writing songs, you need this kind of package. People don’t want to invest in the guy who lives next door, they want this person on stage. So I went home and I started to put on this identity ‘Rockstar Kit’; so I bought myself a leather jacket, dyed my hair black, painted my fingernails black, and I get into this character, and I write my songs with deep personal stories. I dressed them up like how a Rockstar would perform, and that was when the ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ came about…and it became this amazing life turning moment.” – Kav Temperley, lead vocalist of Eskimo Joe in a recent interview with this writer.

Indeed. The demarcation point between the conservative appearance and the rockstar projection was clearly defined between the two album setlists – A Song Is the City and Black Fingernails, Red Wine albums performed in their entirety in track-list order.

For the first half, lead vocalist and bass player wore a black shirt – with embroidery and fully buttoned to the neck, fused in a Johnny Cash flavour.  Eskimo Joe’s 2004 second studio album A Song Is the City, which peaked at number 2 on the ARIA charts sparked with ‘Come Down’ and ‘From the Sea’ which drew a roar of approval from the crowd, followed by A Song Is A City mixed with Bill Withers’ ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ midway through the set, and ending with ‘Car Crash’.  

After a 20-minute break, Eskimo Joe graced the stage again. With a curated display of bravado, and with the display of imperious splendour, the front man in the black leather jacket scintillated under the dramatic hues in a shadowy mood of red devil. The ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ album, released in 2006 is the seminal piece of work that transformed Eskimo Joe from that “high school dork” to “rockstars”. The performance had a zestful uptake, showcasing the Rockstars that Eskimo Joe had become.

There were moments when Temperley bended his knees and angled his body forward with the guitar, gracing with conviction, beaming the silhouette and energy of Elvis, which was contrast when Temperley moved his arms like a conductor in swaying the three thousand strong backup vocalists amongst the crowd. It was not just the frontman who graced like a distinctive stage presence; Stuart McLeod on lead guitar and Joel Quatermain on guitar were mellifluously chaotic on stage, often swaying and lifting their guitars vertically and in all direction like during the golden days of rock.

 

This next song is the song that I guess we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t here for this song. This is a tune called Black Fingernails, Red Wine.

The performance by the trio, Kav Temperley, Stuart McLeod on lead guitar and Joel Quatermain on guitar that was water-tight and scintillatingly zestful from the get-go, as we’d expect from the Fremantle band that has graced the big stage across Australia, Europe and America for a quarter of a century. The trio was also joined by the touring drummer and keyboard player, and all were well spaced. This writer would have loved for the three to stand shoulder to shoulder on some occasions (think KISS) but that’s a personal thought.

Performing an album tour is always a risky business, sometimes leaving out fans favourites. But it’s these two  albums that “meant a lot to Eskimo Joe”, as Temperley described in the recent interview. It is also a wise choice, as these two albums have the goods that got Eskimo Joe garnering 35 ARIA nominations and selling three quarters of a million records thanks to the likes of New York, Foreign Land, Sarah, From the Sea and of course the seminal track Black Fingernails, Red Wine. The great aspects of this concert are that the patrons do not need to be fans of Eskimo Joe to absorb the atmosphere, thanks to the showmanship of the trio, aided by the fans of three thousand.

“We love playing in the best venue here in Fremantle Arts Centre”, said Kav in their last performance of the tour.

Temperley also attempted a standup.

My most common question is, ‘If you knew her name is Sarah, why do you need to know her name?’ Well, Imagine you go don’t to the Norfolk Hotel in Fremantle, there is this girl called Sarah, and this is before mobile phones where you can just stalk ppl and you see her and you know her name, you don’t know if she knows who you are and you’re waiting to be introduced, so is like, ‘Sarah, why don’t you tell me your name’ – does it makes sense?

Not really!

So, is this the end of Eskimo Joe?

“Maybe,” he said in the recent interview with this writer. “I love making music with Eskies. But I don’t know when we will make another record, because these things are expensive and takes time…I have written songs about wine (chuckles), and I’m the kind of guy who makes music whether someone goes and buys the music or not…but maybe it’s the last of the wine (for Eskimo Joe), I don’t know…”