Date: September 25, 2009
Venue: South Bank Cultural Forercourt
Acts: Timothy Carroll
Placing Timothy Carroll in an intimate environment such as the wee Spiegeltent that’s one of several centrepiece attractions at The Carnival’s Edge is an inspired choice. The cosy confines of red-painted panelled walls, the rough-hewn wooden seats, and the soaring canvas ceiling seems the perfect foil for Carroll’s folk romanticism — even if the venue was once used to race miniature ponies. And perhaps the last fact even adds to the charm.
Brisbane’s newest acoustic wonder proves to be in fine form, first drifting languorously through the geo-political cynicism of Endgame and Smog’s Rock Bottom Riser in solo mode before inviting his fellow band members to join him on stage.
And maybe it’s a whimsical fancy, maybe it’s romaticising, but the old-world venue seems to add richness to Carroll’s sound — his golden vocals shiver with extra intensity and guitar notes hang in the air with the crispest purity while Will Eager’s brushed drums proffer a beat so gossamer that the melodies soar all the more.
It’s a set so good that it’s tough to pick a highlight — and the 80 or so souls fortunate to witness such an exquisite performance would undoutedly agree.
The glacial keys of To Frozen Lakes? Unrecorded beauty Deepest Dive? Dansyttan — a gentle, swirling ode to love named for the Swedish town where it was written?
All are contenders, but tonight it’s Sad Man that’s the star — even if Carroll is momentarily thrown by a drunken heckler at the start. Heckler eventually placated, Carroll duets with long-time collaborator Corinna Scanlon on a wryly spun tale that documents the quiet desperation of a couple whose love is inexorably destroyed by gambling.
Clever as the lyrics are though, it’s Carroll’s ukelele chiming like some old-time blues guitar as it vies against the mournful warbling clarinet of Bec Craner that really captures the ear. And surely that’s perfect for a venue like this as well.