Club concert - 28 May, by Lorcan Bolster
Trouble In The Kitchen are a young,
Melbourne based, traditional Irish Music band and a damn fine
band they are. Over here in NZ on their first overseas tour they
are Ado Barker on fiddle, Ben Stevenson on flute, Caroline
Frawley the only Irish born member - on button accordion, Joe
Ferguson on bouzouki and Kate Burke on guitar.
Ado and Ben are the soul of the group and have been playing
together for over 10 years. Both terrific players, they had the
effortless synchronicity of long nights of practise. Caroline a
new addition had only taken to trad music seriously since coming
to Australia but proved wonderfully dextrous on the box. Joe
Ferguson's mighty percussive bouzouki was an inspiration
though-out the night as well he has a lovely left hand, as you'd
say.
Kate Burke was the star performer in my eyes. Not just marvellous
driving rhythmic accompaniment when the band was in full
helter-skelter mode but also, when she played along to her songs,
her finger picking style was light and delightful. She was all
over the stage, playing pretty much every instrument that strayed
close to her - guitar, bouzouki, concertina, button accordion and
fiddle. The two self-penned songs showed a strong lyrical style
and pinned her politics solidly on the red side of the fence.
Indeed, politics was a thread that ran through the evening. TITK
nailed their colours firmly to the socialist mast and showed a
healthy disdain for the Howard government songs like Ewan
McColl's Four Pence a Day and the Burke penned song describing
300,000 marchers in Sydney in support of Aboriginal rights were
introduced with swipes at Howard and his party. Ah yes, the
songs. Everyone and his trad-loving dog knows that the words most
dreaded at a trad concert are "and now for a song". And although
my heart did sink a bit when these inevitable words were uttered,
I do admit that the songs added rather then subtracted from the
night. The aforementioned 'Four Pence' was a great version the
band adding four-part harmony to their box of tricks; Ado's voice
excelling again on The Lock-Keeper. Kate provided a lovely
version of the great standard Flash Company and her other
composition Sarah Island had a lovely modern-traditional
feel.
But TITK are predominantly tune merchants and when they got
going, you had to hold on with two hands. Sets generally started
with the bouzouki and guitar in tandem laying down a great
rhythmic platform for the flute, fiddle and box to play off. And
great sets they were. The arrangements were innovative and the
tune changes were slick and seamless. Don't you just love the
lift a good tune change gives to a set? The evening was full of
them. The between song patter was mostly the Ben and Ado show
natural, easy and funny in front of the microphone, they bounced
the evening along in fine fashion. But there was seriousness
behind the banter and both had a deep love and regard for
Australian Irish music and the people and tunes that had come
before them.
It's not often that the folk club gets such a talented,
energetic, enthusiastic, funny, good-looking, upbeat Aussie band;
if you weren't there, then where the bloody hell were you!?