With over 40 years of material to choose from, The Church brought their ‘The Singles Tour: A Career Retrospective‘ tour to the beautiful Princess Theatre, Launceston in a one-off stop for Tasmania.
The order of the day was pure paisley psychedelia. 6 men stood upon the stage and unleashed the beauty of plenty of 12-string magic, soaring guitar solos, the fullness of the sound with extra guitars, keys and percussion all underpinned with the drums & percussion along with the exquisite bass-playing of Steve Kilbey. The Church, right across their existence, have been known as a guitar band, with a rich history of great guitar players playing the dual-lead roles which have been instrumental in creating their iconic sound.
However, on tonight’s performance, I have finally come to the realisation that Steve Kilbey’s grossly under-rated bass playing is the sweet, sticky and deliciously delectable driving force behind the music. His finger-picking style coupled with his regular use of his fretless basses creates a sumptuously rich lower-end over which the rest of the band can create the thrilling highlights which punctuate virtually every song.
The sold-out crowd (at the first-ever appearance of the band in Launceston) were highly attentive, and greatly appreciative of all of the older hits such as Unguarded Moment and Under The Milky Way as much as they were for the band’s newer material such as Realm of Minor Angels, Hypnogogue and Sacred Echoes. Tear It All Away, Reptile, When You Were Mine and Tantalised were simply spine-tingling, and I could sense an air of excitement from the band as they extended themselves into their playing throughout these songs.
Special mention must go to the band’s lighting engineer, who produced some spectacular wizardry with the visuals which were perfectly in keeping with both the mood and the intent of the music throughout the show. The sound was equally crisp and clear, ensuring the band were put forward at their absolute best.
The Church never leave you wanting, with the two hour-long sets followed by an encore, enough to satisfy even the most hard-core fans of the band.
Set 1:
Columbus
Electric Lash
Tear It All Away
Hypnogogue
Unguarded Moment
Block
Metropolis
It’s No Reason
Realm of Minor Angels
Reptile
15-minute intermission
Set 2:
Almost With You
When You Were Mine
Ripple
Destination
Constant In Opal
Another Century
Already Yesterday
Numbers
Under The Milky Way
Tantalised
Encore:
Sacred Echoes (Part Two)
Space Saviour
All images: ©fullonrockphotography/Andrew Fuller
