First thing to say about this gig tonight at The Ellington Jazz Club is that after my first visit to this established Perth musical institution, I just wanted to go around and shake every audient’s hand and thank them for being brilliant humans.
Then somehow bottle them and market them as the ideal audience for most every venue, festival, gig, house concert, happening that I’ve been to in the last 20 years.
I’m not kidding and I’m not exaggerating. One song in and I had to re-focus on the music; I was fixated on what an attentive, respectful, beautiful crowd of people had gathered on a Wednesday night on Beaufort Street to attend a gig from something of the unknown: a meeting of two musical minds and prowesses (Jaron from Canada, Emily-Rose from Sydney) with the backline of the sublime and silky smooth percussive chops of Rose Callaghan from [insert where Rose is from when you find out].
Without dwelling on my attendance too much, I’ll just say I was there against not all odds but some odds. On the last night of a seven-night swing over to the west coast from Adelaide, I’d spent three nights in Perth but most of my activities were in Fremantle, then four nights in Fremantle and I was trying as much as I could to curtail my meanderings to just Walyalup and the port city.
However, on Sunday night at the main reason for my jaunt across the Nullarbor, I’d seen Shark & Fox perform at the Fairbridge Festival Showcase at Fremantle Arts Centre, hastily put together by Kaleidescope Multicultural Arts Management. as at least some way of marking what should have been the 2024 Fairbridge Festival, sadly cancelled in the great collapse of festivals of the 2020s.
Forza Fairbridge 2025.
Trying to cram in as much as possible into the time and opportunities available while in Boorloo/Walyalup, I’d caught the start of proceedings at Fremantle Arts then snuck away at sunset to Clancy’s Fish Pub, Fremantle to catch the first of The Hamilton Hillbillies’ two sets for their monthly bluegrass club then slunk back.
I’m a slinker from way back. I’ve slunk with the best.
Two of the joys of the ways I’ve approached and engaged with musical events over the last twenty years are: random discoveries and appreciation of collaborations.
The random discoveries come thick and fast when you’re on radio, are an MC thrust on to various stages and don’t dictate which acts you introduce, and most importantly, drift. Drift around the continent, drift around cities and towns, wander into a venue if the winds are coming from the other direction, take a punt on the unknown, roll on up, smile sweetly and enquire, Who have we got tonight?
It’s an ever-repeating trope of my festival existence. “Quinny, you’re going to Nannup; who’s on there? Who are the headline acts?”
Me: No idea. I’ll tell you half an hour after I’ve seen them.
Nannup 2023 was a good recent example of this. For the first time in a very long time, I threw my hat in to MC (despite having already bought my weekend ticket). I always resist the urge and invitation to nominate who I want to introduce. The acts I really like, I’ll make time to see. The ones I want to see there are the ones I don’t yet know about.
And that’s what I got at Nannup in spades: Emily Barker, Lucas Drinkwater, The Witchy Djypsies, Delilah Rose, The Stamps, and then I’d start to stuggle and have to refer to old notes and social media posts.
I feel like I’m neglecting something and someones here. Shall we get back on track? We shall.
I’d taken a quick glance at who was on at the Fairbridge Showcase but the acts were not the drawcard for me. It was the circumstances of the festival cancellation and the effort of Kaleidescope in putting the show on that had me booking my travel weeks ago to come across from South Australia after, to be fair, a pretty intense couple of months of festivalling followed by an unplanned but wonderful trip up to Mparntwe (Alice Springs) for nine days.
Where were we? I’d just slunk back in to Fremantle Arts Centre, rejoined my old mucker Frank Hodges from 107.9 FM Radio Fremantle, and even older (i.e. more years in radio) mucker – though we were never on air together – Bill H.
Pretty much as soon as I’d grabbed a drink, greeted a few old faces, shook their hands, given others a friendly chock on the shoulder, Jaron and Emily-Rose took the stage and grabbed the audience.
Ok, gotta share an old family joke here. My ex-wife had a turn of phrase that never ceased to amuse me all the time we were together and for some time after.
Me: “How does that grab you, T.?”
Her: “By the balls and shakes me vigorously.”
I’m not saying Shark & Fox did any grabbing or shaking, but they certainly seized the attention of a large crowd, and kept us in their thrall for two masterful sets. It was a long evening for some with families, some older attendees, and a good deal much younger started to trickle away as the sunlight faded and the night crept in. Oh yeah, reading this back a couple of weeks later, for the purposes of clarification we’re still at Fremantle Arts Centre that Sunday night. We’ll get to The Ellington soon.
For those that remained, the rewards were bountiful as Shark & Fox mesmerised us with a set that oscillated from Canada to New South Wales to Bulgaria and somehow managed to do so seamlessly. The merch marched out the door and by the time we washed up on the shores of Beaufort Street on Wednesday night, Jaron was sold out of his CDs.
A nice problem to have with only two and a secret gig to go of a five week tour.
After that enthusiastic start to documenting a sublime night at the jazz club, it was at this point I folded the laptop away as the Picabar in the cultural precinct was starting to close up. Hint for those who may be tempted to make a good night stretch on; always leave them (and you) wanting more, and let’s say no more of some unsavoury events in the CBD I was partly witness to and you can read about in The West Australian if you have that level of openness to insulting your own intelligence.
For those not familiar with my work, I don’t do in-depth analysis of the music; I don’t have that level of musical know-how or technical appreciation. Music has never been a bar-by-bar, blow-by-blow analysis thing. I approach musical appreciation in writing and onair as I do with my personal listening tastes: on the level of observation and reaction.
Therefore, I’ll wind this up by referring to the notes I scribbled that night.
And you would not read about it. Literally.
As in you can’t read about it because the two loose leaves I filled up before switching to my notebook have disappeared somewhere between Beaufort Street, the cultural centre, the bar/mixed martial arts footpath, YHA Fremantle Prison, City of Mitcham ibn Adelaide, then back here to Beaconsfield/Fremantle.
Disappointing, but in the grand scheme of things, something of a sign I’ve been seeing lots of lately: don’t put your energy into pointless pursuits.
What did I manage to retain?
As always, I was struck by the complementary instrumentation on stage between Jaron, Emily-Rose, and Rose C. One of my favourite Celtic combinations is fiddle and guitar whereby the guitar seems to fill in momentary gaps left in the phrasing of fiddle-playing. On many of the songs and tunes the trio performed, there was this in triumvirate, with Rose C. firmly from the ‘less is more’ school of often minimalist percussion. Rather than a wall of sound, it fit the mood, the venue, the material, and the crowd was drawn to it.
And for variety, Emily-Rose brings the piano accordion into the mix and then there’s a whole other bunch of dynamics at play, suiting Celtic traditions on one tune then seamlessly off to the Balkans. And in the blink of an eye, an ultra-contemporary singer-songwriter offering.
Stitching most of it together is the masterful patter and stagecraft of Jaron Freeman-Fox with that laconic, trademark Canadian dry humour and comedic timing you’d expect coming towards the end of a five-week tour. I’ll not steal any of his thunder with the Mongolian car story; you’ll just have to see Shark & Fox some other time.
I did jot down one line because it tickled me and others no end:
“You guys have friendly faces and malleable ears.”
And that sadly or mercifully is the extent of my notes, remembrances, and general thoughts on a night I’m glad I didn’t sit in my cell and watch comedy shows on iView. They’ll always be there ; acts like Jaron, Emily-Rose, and Rose C. won’t.
Looking forward to returning to The Ellington Jazz Club as soon as possible. I’m flying out tonight ten minutes before doors open for what sounds like a beaut night with the massively talented Jessie Gordon and friends.
Check local guides for more.
Overheard Productions 
what’s radio
Yeah, gonna wait for someone who can ask in English. No offence.