Thursday night saw Adelaide’s The Yearlings play their first West Australia show in around six years (according to singer/guitarist Chris Parkinson), taking to the recently refurbished Clancy’s Fish Pub stage to launch their latest record All the Wandering with a wonderfully intimate performance.
Kick starting proceedings was Sara Tindley a singer-songwriter from NSW, and friend of the band; Chris Parkinson produced Tindley’s 2011 release Time. It was a no-frills no fuss kind of set, armed only with an acoustic guitar Tindley worked through a selection of songs from her three records; including her ‘minor hit’ (her words) “Down The Avenue”. Though personally the highlight of the set for me was her final song “Country Girl” which she sung unaccompanied which served to really highlight the quality of Tindley’s vocal; not to mention it was a beautiful song.
The Yearlings, it seems, come in many different sizes from just a duo, right up to a full band, with horn section and backing singers. Thursday evening saw them operate as a trio, with drummer BJ Barker joining Robyn Chalklen and Chris Parkinson on stage for the majority of the set. Though even in stripped back style, the band were still able to create this wonderfully rich sound.
With five albums to their name, the band have no shortage of songs to draw upon; though of course given the nature of the show and tour, the focus was invariably on their new album All the Wandering. In fact they kicked off the set with the albums eponymous opening track. Another of the set’s highlights was “Blue Sky Boy” which saw Tindley return to the stage for some extra harmonies. “Highway Dancing” from their third album proved to be another favourite of mine.
Unfortunately only a small crowd turned up for the show, and I’d imagine that ideally the band would have liked a few more punters through the door. However it was an attentive and appreciative audience, and the small numbers only really added to the intimacy of the performance. All in all it was definitely up there as one of my favourite performances this year – beautiful harmonies, great sound and some lovely guitar playing. What more could you ask for.
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