On what seems like their umpteenth tour of Australia, legendary Gomez guitarists/vocalists Ian Ball and Ben Ottewell made a welcome return to Hobart as part of their ‘Gomez By Request/you decide the setlist!’ tour on this Wednesday evening.
A novel way of playing your greatest hits and fan favourites, audiences have, and will be asked to let the guys know beforehand as to which songs they may like to hear in any set. Kicking off with Meet Me, the duo, to the great delight of the sold-out crowd, moved through a hugely stirring set of Gomez singles and deeper album tracks from across their 25+ years as a band.
Standouts for mine included Tijuana Lady, Get Miles, Rhythm & Blues Alibi as well as Get Myself Arrested, though every song had people singing along at top note.
If the night could be summed up succinctly, it would be best done so in the words of one of the audience when he yelled out “F*** I love Wednesdays!”
Ben Ottewell & Ian Ball Gallery:
Support for the evening was provided by Buddy (Bud Humberston), a singer-song-writer from Portland Oregon, a regular collaborator and touring partner of Ball and Ottewell. His set was largely acoustic with a couple of collaborations with Ian Ball who joined him on stage either playing bass or keyboard. He professed a sincere love of Hobart before leaving the stage and playing to the crowd from the floor (see picture below).
Buddy Gallery:
All images: ©fullonrockphotography/Andrew Fuller
