Love, Revenge and Remorse: Jeff Lang, Lizottes 27/5/2007

For the blessed few, the artistry of Jeff Lang is not a mystery. You can be assured that his gig at Lizotte’s on Sunday night was another masterful performance. For the uninitiated, to not know Jeff Lang is to have a yawning hole in your musical soul.

Jeff Lang has been around for a while. He is a great songwriter, an expressive vocalist and gifted guitarist. Yet while other similar artists seem to make the ripples in the mainstream world, Jeff seems to move just below the surface; one of Australia’s well known musical secrets. An apt comparison would be Richard Thompson in terms of acclaim, skills and recognition.

This was the third time to have witnessed Jeff on the Central Coast, the second time at Lizotte’s and the first time at Kincumber Lizotte’s (there was one at Ettalong until they tore the RSL down). A lovely, intimate venue. We were seated directly to the left of the stage.

Jeff opened (standing up) with the foreboding Ravenswood, a slow moody piece of slide guitar. A lot of Jeff’s material does tend toward darker themes (in contrast to Jeff himself who is quite a friendly and funny chap). But the weight of the material doesn’t exhaust the audience. Lang is a master storyteller who draws the audience in and is quite capable of offsetting the darker hues with the uplifting love song London or the bouncy dreams of Slip Away.

A trio of songs in the middle of the set, London, Till They Cut Me Down and one that I couldn’t place, Jeff brilliantly explored the themes of love, revenge and remorse. Themes very obvious in the country, blues and folk influences that inform Jeff’s music. But don’t be expecting to hear warmed over Robert Johnson riffs or clichéd folky guitar moves. Contrary to popular belief, the acoustic guitar is not a genteel art. Lang made his guitars howl and roar through sending the acoustic signal through an array of stomp boxes and adeptly blending the resulting sounds. A delicate whisper of slide would suddenly turn into a scream.

It seems this jaunt around Oz is over for now. Which is a shame as he is one of the best live performers in Australia today. But his recorded output is just as worthy. For the uninitiated Prepare Me Well is a great place to start .A compilation of various songs over the past decade it also includes a DVD of interviews and performances. If you have some time at lunch today, wander to the local CD store and pick up a copy.

And as a teaser, some video The Beloved took of Jeff singing ye old folk tune The House Carpenter.

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