Reviewed on Wednesday January 6 (photo by Jamie Williams)
It was perhaps fitting in the lead-up to seeing The Weather Station to find oneself in a queue of umbrellas, raincoats and gumboots. The heavens sure did help set the mood for this gig. It rained, how it rained.
The Weather Station is the indie-folk moniker of Toronto singer-songwriter and fingerpicking guitarist Tamara Lindeman. Channelling Joni Mitchell, Bill Callahan and David Wiffen, the focus is on beautifully crafted, nuanced tunes. And each of her three records feels like peering into a private, confidential world in which love and anxiety are on the mind.
Bedraggled, wet and dripping, the audience filed into the Sydney Festival mainstay, The Famous Spiegeltent. Wood panelled, intimate and watertight, all the ingredients were there for a top-notch concert.
Lindeman took to the stage without pageantry or introduction, joined by Ben Whiteley on bass and Ian Kehoe on drums. All wearing the uniform livery of black slacks and brown brogues, they launched straight into the opener. It was two songs before she bantered with the crowded in the most Canadian of ways, an apology “for what’s happening outside”.
The fans were soon in the sway of Lindeman’s soaring but nimble voice, tapping and nodding along, some with their eyes closed. Lindeman’s tunes are at once idiosyncratic and universal, a good example being ‘What Am I Going To Do (With Everything I Know)’, a song that explores what it is to constantly overthink things.
Other highlights came from The Weather Station’s latest album Loyalty. ‘I Mined’ is anxiety-riddled, while ‘Shy Women’ wonderfully encapsulates the reality of everyday female politeness. And closing the show with the track ‘Tapes’, Lindeman’s vocal range was on full display in this deceptively simple ditty about reminiscing over mixtapes.
Seeing The Weather Station onstage was pure joy. It often seems a difficult task for bands venturing into minimalist folk – songs so often sound the same, and end up all rolling into one – but that never befell here. The trio charmed with honest, captivating lyrics and delicate, beautiful melodies. An early highlight of this year’s Sydney Festival.
