I think it’s a good indication that a concert review is well overdue when you’re preparing to head out to another show and you still haven’t put your thoughts about the last one down. So a day before I venture back to Newcastle, I’m finally sitting down and casting my mind back to July 6 when I saw “Tim Freedman does Nilsson” at Lizotte’s.
Ordinarily, unless the venue forbids cameras, I take a photo to share with you. However, I decided not to this time around. What you would see is Tim Freedman, lead singer of The Whitlams and sometimes solo artist. A camera couldn’t capture the way that Tim channelled Harry Nilsson for this very special show. And so it felt more fitting, more in keeping with what Tim was trying to achieve, to post an image of that singer-songwriter instead.
What I didn’t realise when I stepped into Lizotte’s that night was that Tim Freedman wasn’t simply doing the songs of Nilsson. He was properly doing Nilsson, complete with a Brooklyn accent and the nervous presence of a man who was never comfortable up on the stage. He humbly told tales of his famous friends and life, and I found myself hanging on his every word. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about music history, but I found myself learning plenty about his relationships with John Lennon, Mama Cass, and Keith Moon. Clearly Tim’s done his research.
And clearly he’s got a deep bond with Nilsson. He gave stunning performances of the hits and the lesser known tracks, even ones I didn’t realise Nilsson wrote like The Monkees’ “Cuddly Toy.” His voice was never quite going to hit the same heights, but a smart arrangement of “Without You” didn’t make me want more. It had the right emotional core, unlike that terrible Mariah Carey interpretation. “Everybody’s Talking” was another real highlight.
Tim could have left after performing Nilsson’s material and everyone would have been happy, but he took a brief intermission before returning with highlights from his own catalogue. My dad commented that listening to these songs again made him realise just how much Tim’s songwriting has been influenced by Nilsson’s music. Tim spoke about how he was still perfecting his Nilsson show in preparation for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. If he can get it better, Adelaide’s in for a real treat, because I thought it was already a stunning homage to one of the world’s greatest songwriters.
Image source: Wikimedia
