Live Review: C.W. Stoneking w/ Marlon Williams @ Twilight At Taronga

The Taronga Zoo twilight performances are a comfortable and intimate way to enjoy music in the open air backed by the Sydney Harbour skyline. Feels slightly posh, but incredibly romantic. Tonight’s entertainment was neo-blues legend C.W. Stoneking and the comparatively fresh Marlon Williams joined by the Yarra Benders.

Enter four young guys in simple relaxed jeans and shirts, Marlon Williams himself in a plaid shirt, jeans, and trucker hat. Who were these guys? Honestly, the audience was too distracted with securing the best grassy spot to take notice of the modest supporting act. Little did they know…

“[Williams] nailed every harmonic phrase and showed off [his] instrumental prowess, switching effortlessly between strings to electric guitar and bass with perfect timing. Channeling bluegrass, blues, country and alternative vibes, I cannot restrict this show to one genre.”

Marlon Williams and the Yarra Benders opened with Strange Things from his 2015 self-titled album and sent shivers down spines. Within the audience there were open mouths and wide eyes. Each song opened with a few crisp lines, then the double bass and drums kicked in sending viewers off to a cruisy melancholy world. Short but sweet.

We heard other strong songs from his solo album such as Simple Passage, The Lonely Side of Her and Dark Child. Singles from duo album Sad But True, Heaven For You brought tears and Bloodletter impressed with perfectly orchestrated stops and starts. After All brought out Marlon William’s cheeky side, this song was “about being a bad person and being rewarded for it”. With an old school “one, two, three, four” lead in, it hinted of a pleasing mix of The Beatles and country.

They nailed every harmonic phrase and showed off their instrumental prowess, switching effortlessly between strings to electric guitar and bass with perfect timing. Channeling bluegrass, blues, country and alternative vibes, I cannot restrict this show to one genre. 25-year-old Williams portrays the pain and memories of an old soul, but comes across a sweet young man. Perhaps it was the NZ accent that surfaced and disappeared in performance or the “thank you” after every song.

Taking the stage solo mid set, Marlon wooed us with a slow haunting cover of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. His voice is equally phenomenal, sexy and gloomy. Occasionally the silent space between songs was too long but besides this, and some dorky high school dance style lighting, I could not flaw the show. My favourite, I’m Lost Without You, used sharp strings and smooth backing vocals, and evoked some serious emotional sensations. It is sure to be the next indie film break up song, ‘if you turn and walk away, don’t come back now’.

Crowding around one microphone we were transported to an old western saloon through a cover of If That’s The Way You Feel. I could taste the whisky in my mouth. Flipping the mood upside down, Marlon William and the Yarra Benders brought the energy back up closing with a toe tapping, fast paced, cover of Nobody’s Love Like Mine.

C.W. Stoneking took the stage in a spectacular manner in his signature all white get up with golden bowtie and classic gold Fender Jazzmaster to match. Opening with How Long from album Gon’ Bugaloo, a “how do you do” greeted us with a groovy start, a definite pace change from the preceding relaxing set. This was a perfect retro spectacle, from the theatrics and back up vocals by Vika and Linda Bull to the hilarious raspy banter from C.W. Stoneking himself.

Next song, Zombie, was interesting and came across like an jazzed up old school Boney M style storytelling, crying ‘MAMA! MAMA!’. Definitely roused the crowd and lead into the next tune Get On The Floor, a perfect progression into a healthy dance floor. We saw some well dressed oldies swing, jive and twist, and some poor hipster Generation X attempts to do the same (sorry guys). The small crowd grew larger and larger as tunes like The Thing I Done and Tomorrow Gon’ Be Too Late played. His rough and rich voice coupled with strong saxophone and trumpet melodies got every hip a swayin’. This was no longer a sit down affair. The Love Me Or Die was definitely an oldie but a goodie and calypso Brave Son of America continued the Jungle Blues album throwback.

“This was a perfect retro spectacle, from the theatrics and back up vocals by Vika and Linda Bull to the hilarious raspy banter from C.W. Stoneking himself.”

If you can decipher his voice, his hilarious on stage mini monologues will have you in stitches. C.W. Stoneking also played homage to the setting, cawing like a bird in Jungle Lullaby and claiming to have spent time in the smoking animals enclosure asking for carrots, “please donate, it’s an endangered species”. After a cheerful Good Luck Charm C.W. Stoneking then let us in on his new project, where he tries to cover “good songs with [his] own crappy voice” and treated us to a cover of a song he found on Youtube, Soul Stirrers’ He’s Been A Shelter For Me. 

To close, there was the predictable walk on walk off encore, which only added to his old school style and charm. Closing with Handyman Blues, it was an incredibly cute way to finish off such an uplifting show. He left us reminiscing about the black and white blues era that we would never get to experience, but for polished shows like this, keeping the blues alive.

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