BILLY BRAGG OZ TOUR 2001 - THE TRUE STORY

In October 2001 Billy Bragg performed on a solo tour of Australia. Braggtopia! was there - Mark Warner and Geoff Wilson followed the tour through 7 gigs in 10 nights and posted their reports to the official Billy Bragg Guestbook every day. What follows is a compilation of their reports :

Bill at the Melbourne Town Hall -First Night (Mark) The support The Dave Graney Show : yawn, yawn, yawn. At least that gave Geoff and I time to assess the venue - fucking great organ pipes at the back of the stage and the first time either of us have seen a band play with a huge clock on the wall behind them. At least we could tell when Graney's time was up. Bill was straight into a laid back Upfield quickly followed by A Lover Sings - no talk between and he didn't look too comfortable...he confessed later that to start with he felt very nervous !

Bill's first rap was a long one - how the bombing by America and its ally (singular) of Afghanistan had commenced while he was flying London to Singapore which meant a diversion to Channai (Madras) for 12 hours, then 12 hours in Singapore (a giant empty supermarket) and a flight on to Sydney rather than Melbourne. It turned out his baggage was still in Singapore and Bill made a lot of the Qantas survival pack he was given - no Y-fronts but boxer shorts which upset Bill as he likes to "play with a support and keep the right and left divided".

Through the evening he knocked out about 20 songs (including two encores) of which two were new (Yarra Song about Aussie Rules Football and West Ham - this is a Bragg classic in the making) and another from a refugees point of view "Distant Shore". In local press he's revealed that he also has "You pull the carpet out from underneath my feet" about Juliet and "Baby Farouk" which started out as a kids' song but ended up as something else according to Bill. Unfortunately Bill won't be playing the latter on this tour as he told me "I can't play it without the band".

Bill was on stage for around 1hour 45 mins but only managed two Guthrie songs which is fine by me - I could do with a break from them (and Geoff says ditto...probably 'cos he has nearly lost his voice and can't talk much - that's fine by me ;-)...) Post-gig Bill had a mob of autograph hunter and question askers to contend with so it was a bit intimidating when, realising I was there, he started asking me questions about which tracks were on which records (and Geoff says he knew the answers too – ‘cos he's a trivia king). By the way, Bill, if you're reading this I think it was Christina Rosetti who wrote that poem you nicked...er, I mean interpreted ;-) That's enough - we have record shops to cruise, beers to consume (fuck we were up until 2.30am !) and people to see...at the soundcheck :-) (How big a grin do you want ?)....Back later...

Setlist - Thursday 11th October, Melbourne (Geoff) Upfield A Lover Sings Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key 14th Of February St. Monday The Price I Pay The Space Race Is Over Everywhere Distant Shore *Premiere* Levi Stubbs' Tears There Is Power In A Union Myth Of Trust World Turned Upside Down A New England ------ Tears Of My Tracks I’ll Be There Yarra Song *Premiere* ------ Brickbat Ingrid Bergman Valentine’s Day Is Over

Soundcheck at the Melbourne Town Hall – Friday afternoon (Mark)

When we arrived Bill was filming a couple of songs for Oz TV - even Bill wasn't 100% sure who they were but we think it was Channel 9 for the Sunday programme this weekend - so VCRs at the ready in Oz.

Soundcheck proper - Bill ran through the first half of each song of just about the whole of tonight's set list which includes many classics - Richard, Saturday Boy, Milkman, and he managed to get all the way through Jeane. Barely a repeat from last night ! Instead of "I'll Be There" tonight (Grant Showbiz reckons last night's audience thought it was a Bragg original rather than a Jackson 5 cover !) he's doing...wait for it...an old Bacharach/David song - "Don't Make Me Over" which sounded very soulful.

50 minutes of soundcheck and then Bill came over for a good old chat...maybe an extra gig on this tour...maybe a new official bootleg....Hey ! Am I getting enough info guys ???

Bragg Downunder - The Y-Fronts Tour - Victoria's Secret (2nd Night) (Mark) Bill's on stage at 21.10 Friday night and straight into an almost totally different set which kicks off with "New Spell". A night of classics, rarities and new songs - although no world premieres tonight. Instead we got fresh raps as well as completely reworked ones from the night before, partly inspired by Bill doing a two song acoustic gig earlier in the day at a construction workers’ demo. He did cop it though when he started to tell us the Qantas underpants story again - some clown in the second row (Hello Geoff) tossed a huge pair of white Y-fronts on to the stage mid-rap. Bill was a bit stunned to have male underwear thrown at him but he recovered well and hooked them up with the horns of his new Burns Steer...did I tell you about the new Burns ? Oops, well I'm sure Bill will tell you plenty ...it's one that the guitar company specially made for Bill as one of a batch of 24. It's green and has all the same features - basically a replica which Bill is very, very happy with as it's half the weight of the original. I'm sure Geoff will post more about this as he identified Bill's other new guitar as a National (sounds jangly to me...a non-guitar aficionado).

In set of 22 songs Bill only repeated 6 from the previous night which must be a record. A standout was a very rare performance of "Rumours of War" with a new verse that starts "Now we know our buildings can fall". A very moving song and there was a noticable pause after it before the applause started.

Bill finished up with "Great Leap" and there was a personal highlight when he sang the line "If you've got a website I wanna be on it" he turned and stared me right in the eye !

More Bragg news - Bill is talking very seriously about issuing a Riff Raff compilation. He has access to all the masters and was wondering if the demand was out there for a limited release CD. So, make it known if you want one !

Geoff's on a plane to Brisbane to catch Bill tonight (Saturday). I'm going home tonight and will drive up to Sydney for the next two gigs Monday....more later !

Setlist – Friday 12th October, Melbourne (Geoff) She’s Got A New Spell Richard Ontario, Quebec & Me St. Monday The Short Answer Man In The Iron Mask Aginst Th’ Law Little Time Bomb Rumours Of War Distant Shore Milkman Of Human Kindness I Guess I Planted There Is Power In A Union The Only One Sexuality A New England ------ Tears Of My Tracks Don’t Make Me Over Yarra Song ------ Tank Park Salute Jeane Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards

Mark is right about the guitars; Bill plays the entire set and the second encore on the new Burns, and the first encore on a funky-looking National steel guitar. I think the Burns people made this one specially for Bill as it has a different fingerboard (rosewood?) than their production models. And it's green - where I don't think green is an available colour for the new ones.

If anyone wants to impress their friends with the new song about refugees, Distant Shore, the chords look like this:

Sorry I haven't got the words transcribed but I'm sure there are bootleggers out there who will be typing feverishly in the next few days to get their websites more ultimate. Even if they do push the pause button and record exactly nothing of the soundcheck they were at. Anyway I must dash as its time for Livid and show number three....

LIVID Festival, Brisbane – Saturday 13^th October (Geoff)

Hello all - me again with episode three. Livid was (and will be) the best gig of this tour. Sorry you had to miss it Mark (and the rest of you) because it was awesome. Bill and Brisbane crowds ... they were a fine sing-along bunch, I reckon about 1000 or more in the big top tent. Most knew the words and weren't afraid to show it. Certainly plenty more atmosphere than the sit-down theatre venues the rest of the shows are planned for. Lots more doubling up of songs although a few different ones crept their way in. Less time meant less patter so there was no mention of Qantas underpants or fucking crocodiles ambushing wildebeests at the waterhole, and in a real "take the crunchy with the smooth" moment we did get The Saturday Boy but we also got the goatee rap at the end of it. I also should mention we've had the Wizened Traveller story for the last two nights as well - on 'The Unravelling' festival tour of the US, along with a ska band from Alabama called Leonard Skinhead, britpop band The Grumpy Dumplings, and a bubblegum gothic soloist called Buffy St Marie The Vampire Slayer. Bill was true to his word and played the Yarra song - still making the lame apology that it’s about the weather - and was howled down when he referred to Brisbane as 'just scorched earth'. Great Leap had a verse reworked for John Howard but it seemed a bit rushed and I think Bill flubbed a few of the new lines.

The setlist: Milkman Of Human Kindness A Lover Sings She’s Got A New Spell St. Monday Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key Levi Stubbs’ Tears Little Time Bomb Everywhere A Pict Song The Saturday Boy St. Swithin’s Day The World Turned Upside Down There Is Power In A Union A New England ------ Yarra Song Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards

Of course after the show I blagged my way backstage where photos were taken, and then Bill let me help him out with the excess of Mexican beer from his rider :-)