Discovered by Joel Plaskett himself, Two Hours Traffic were set to open this sold out Friday evening smack in the middle of Joel's five night stand at the Horseshoe Tavern. With the promise made by the latest Siren Spell EP, in lieu of the LP to come in the new year, my excitement was high for this opening set. A few unknown tunes from that LP opened up and didn't win too many over and seemed like a misstep in the set list as it wasn't until Amour than Amis and a few lesser known tunes from previous releases that we got some familiar material. It's the catchy ditties from Little Jabs that originally hooked 2HT fans, yet this show was lacking in these. Unfortunately the entire set, although alright, felt lacking and I was disappointed especially after hyping this night over others specifically for this opener. Part of it was likely the crowd who weren't in much of a shuffling mood all night. Even when they I invited Joel on stage to join them on a thin-necked four string guitar for an Isolator EP tune it didn't much invigorate anyone. I know that Two Hours Traffic have it in them as I've witnessed it on many occasions. With fan familiarity and band comfort I'm confident they'll be back in top form once the album drops in the new year.
Joel Plaskett
Never one to phone it in Joel hit the stage running on his third night of the 65th Anniversary stand. An eclectic list of tunes kept us guessing with a healthy mix of B-sides and deep cuts (ex: Natural Disaster) alongside the offering of Plaskett favourites (Deny, Deny, Deny), of which there are many.
Bursting out of the gate he was backed by the Emergency who consisted of only a couple other guys on this night but allowed him to bring the rock. Following this they were excused and they "added a dash of handsome" (Joel's words) by having Peter Elkas come up to play some acoustic guitar with him. This was a lovely pair as they both are true singer-songwriters in their own respect and were able to bring a new level to some of Joel's catalogue.
After a good number of songs in this setup, as if Joel could sense the crowd growing slightly anxious, not only did the Emergency return to crank it up but another guitarist and a fireball of a red-headed fiddle player also joined the mix. She really added a new dimension to the set and Joel was all smiles even if his throat wasn't exactly happy.
After a good number of songs in this setup, as if Joel could sense the crowd growing slightly anxious, not only did the Emergency return to crank it up but another guitarist and a fireball of a red-headed fiddle player also joined the mix. She really added a new dimension to the set and Joel was all smiles even if his throat wasn't exactly happy.
A highlight string of Snowed In/Cruisin' straight into Face of the Earth pleased the Ashtray Rock lover in me and it was fun to see Liam of Two Hours Traffic have the favour returned in being asked to sing on Happen Now (and a respectable job he did). Speaking of guest vocals Peter Elkas had the honour of a verse of Nowhere with You. Following a solid couple hours of nonstop Joel, including a Million Dollars clap-along, the man finally exited the stage only to return for an encore after a minute's rest. First he brought it down with another artist's song off his iPod before flipping over to his own Fashionable People tune on the iPod, the Yamma Mamma version, to which he shuffled and sang the chorus. Similarly to Hillside he freestyled through his own song and some of April Wine, though of.course it was entirely fresh as it was a freestyle. Closing tune was Extraordinary - a fitting song from an artist who is that - extraordinary.
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