Jeff Lang
The Spiegeltent
November 9th, 2008

The professionalism with which Jeff Lang performed on this warm Sunday night at the Spiegeltent was a notable change for a man who, in the past, made a habit of sitting down to tell jokes and stories while tuning his guitar and deciding which song best suits the mood.

This time he had all his guitars - and even a turkish cümbüş - pre-tuned and lined up in the order he was to use them. But this efficiency in no way negated the feelings synonymous with watching Lang and double bass-player Grant ‘the Squire’ Cummerford perform live.

There were the usual elements that make a Lang show so intimate and accessible: seeing a friend awkwardly run into Lang before the show in the Arts Centre toilet; standing behind and briefly talking to Jeff’s parents as they bought tickets to their son’s show; receiving warm smiles from his sister as she stood by the album table; and later, observing his infant child applaud his father after ‘Copper Mine’, an archaically modern folk -blues tune, during which his cümbüş - which apparently makes a nifty bedpan - introduced itself.

Self-described as “disturbed folk music, a tangled roots music stew,” Lang’s seducing lap-steel runs and tender acoustic melodies sit alongside - and never in place of - his poignant song-writing. His live performances only seem to heighten their impressive qualities.

For the exceedingly polite crowd seated leisurely at small round tables inside the Spiegeltent, Jeff Lang came out blazing, confidently opening with a ride down ‘The Savannah Way’, a song appearing on his latest album, Half Seas Over, and one written with fellow Melbourne musician, Suzannah Espie. With a down-to-business attitude, he retained a deliberateness that did not merely go through the motions, but which was attentive to the songs’ demands. He appeared as merely a channel for his music, some vehicle through which these songs manifest themselves.

Most of the set was lifted from his latest album, despite the odd few songs to maintain a “Melbourne-centric theme.” Lang played two songs from, Whatever Makes You Happy (2004). ‘You Should Have Waited’, an unrequited love song set in Fitzroy, and ‘Slip Away’, dedicated to his good friend and fellow Melbournian, C.W. Stoneking.

Lang left out his epic rendition of ‘House Carpenter’ - an old traditional song about unfaithfulness and death - instead playing his balmy blues, ‘Everything is still’, from his 2001 album of the same name.

No recent Jeff Lang performance is complete without a tribute to the “late and great” Chris Whitley. This time he played ‘The Road Leads Down’, a song from their collaborative album, Dislocation Blues, telling the story of a love that is lost. At least that’s what it could be about. Here ‘The Squire’ showcased his skills in an extended, but never out of place, double bass solo.

Special mention must also go to Lang’s reworking of an old folk song that appears on Half Seas Over. Rest assured, if you are not a folk-convert after the delightful yet slightly disturbing (two characteristics very at home within Jeff’s work) ‘My Mother Always Talked To Me’, you never will be.

When Jeff Lang and Grant Cummerford disappeared offstage after 55 minutes, the timid crowd found themselves chanting for an encore. A fly on the wall backstage would certainly have observed a determined Lang discussing with Mr. Cummerford how they could make the crowd boisterous.

Audience participation is the key, so when the two performers appeared on stage again and introduced ‘Newman Town’, the final song on the new album, Lang coached different sections of the crowd to keep two distinctive beats. Most people managed to keep time, but it wouldn’t have mattered if they didn’t; Jeff knew where he was going, and, if his latest albums and shows are any indication, has he has no intentions of slowing down.

By the end, the Spiegeltent had come alive.