Venue:
The Old Museum, Brisbane
Date: 03/07/2015
It’s hard to place the music of Messrs Ryan and Pattengale. Wikipedia tries ‘indie folk’, while AllMusic has ‘neo-traditional folk’, whatever the fuck that is. Actually, wikipedia’s second attempt, ‘flat-picking harmony duo’, works for me – that’s exactly what they are. There are touches of Simon & Garfunkel, while the combination of voices with strumming and intricate obbligatos bring Welch-Rawlins to mind.
Whatever, they were on excellent form. Considering there’s just the two of them – one a long streak of piss with luxuriant 60s-style hair, the other rather squat with a Martin Freeman haircut – they have extraordinary stage presence. They launched straight in, pitch-perfect right from the word go, their voices and their guitars combining perfectly, their songs full of unexpected little harmonic twists and turns. I was going to make a set list, but I was entranced and forgot. They played pretty much all of The Ash & Clay and their latest, Monterey, anyhow. Swing Low was a standout.
The guitars are tuned to the voices: Ryan’s baritone matches the rich boom of his 1951 Gibson J-45, while the trebly sweetness of the 1955 Martin matches Pattengale’s high tenor. This makes watching and listening – ie seeing them live – a fascinating experience. Wouldn’t have missed it for worlds.
Only mild complaint: could have done with a bit less banter from the Kids, particularly when they involved members of the audience who weren’t nearly as amusing as they thought they were. Could have fitted in another couple of songs.
The audience:
Pretty much what you’d expect. Lots of grey hair and shiny domes, but I was nowhere near the oldest, which was a pleasant surprise, and quite a few young things who showed no sign of having been frogmarched there.
It made me think..
Two perfectly matched voices in harmony – nothing better.
Thanks! You certainly make me curious to hear more.
What I’ve heard has sounded almost too perfect. But maybe that is an unreasonble criticism .