Billy Bragg
The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel ('The Gov'), Adelaide, Australia
Monday 24 April 2017
Recorded by eckythump from left side of stage
Source: Nokia Lumia 930 (called Lumia Icon in North America) w/built-in HAAC mics > Audio Recorder Pro app > 16bit/48 KHz PCM/WAV
Encoding: Trader's Little Helper > FLAC (Level 8)

Track List:

01 - All You Facists Are Bound To Lose (Woody Guthrie cover)
02 - To Have And To Have Not
03 - A Lover Sings
04 - Greetings To The New Brunette
05 - Billy talks
06 - St Swithin's Day
07 - Billy talks
08 - The Price I Pay
09 - Jeane (The Smiths cover)
10 - Billy talks
11 - The Time's They Are-A Changin' Back (Bob Dylan cover with new Billy lyrics)
12 - Sexuality
13 - Billy talks
14 - Handyman Blues
15 - The Warmest Room
16 - She's Got A New Spell
17 - Billy talks
18 - Little Time Bomb
19 - Lovers Town Revisited
20 - The Saturday Boy
21 - Billy talks
22 - The Short Answer
23 - Brickbat
24 - The World Turned Upside Town
25 - Billy talks
26 - Why We Build The Wall (Ana�s Mitchell cover)
27 - Billy talks
28 - Accident Waiting To Happen
29 - The Milkman Of Human Kindness
30 - Billy talks
31 - Levi Stubbs' Tears
32 - Billy talks
33 - Between The Wars
34 - There Is Power In A Union
35 - Encore Break
36 - Billy talks
37 - Must I Paint You A Picture
38 - A New England

Show Notes:

From Billy's Facebook page: "I make no apologies for what happened last night in Adelaide. It's been quite a while since I took the stage with an electric guitar to confront an all-standing audience in a big, dark boozer. Maybe it was that fact that today is a public holiday, but that crowd responded like it was Saturday night, not Monday. They were so receptive that I played twice as many songs as I intended. My voice is hoarse and my fingers sore, but it bodes well for the back-to-basics solo shows to come in the autumn."

Reivew of the show and some photos here - http://adelaidereview.com.au/arts/music/review-billy-bragg-governor-hindmarsh/

Now THIS is the Billy show I've been looking for! The shows I saw in Melbourne with Joe Henry over the weekend were great and I enjoyed them immensely, but I was disappointed he didn't add a solo show in Melbourne as this is the format I think he excels in. When it was announced he was however going to perform a solo show in Adelaide, I knew I had to go, so I purchased a ticket and made my way over to the fair city of Churches (it helped the following day was a holiday for ANZAC day, which no doubt contributed to the rowdiness of the crowd). All I can say about this show is WOW. Clearly Billy was also getting a little tired of singing the same songs about trains every night, because he let loose with a 2 hour plus show, taking audience requests and clearly thrilled about the fantastic audience reception he received (Billy - 'I can't tell you how gagging I've been to do a gig like this').

I can't praise this show highly enough, it was nigh on a perfect Billy gig - loose, rarely played songs, witty banter, great audience singalongs, and even the most polite heckler in the world (listen to the banter before Handyman Blues for some brilliant audience interaction). Yes he hit some bum notes, yes he forgot some words, but really who cares, it was the perfect Billy Bragg show. I first saw Billy almost 20 years ago when he toured here with the Blokes, and I've seen him every tour he's done in Australia since, and this is without doubt the best show I've seen him do.

The world needs Billy Bragg. More gigs like this please Billy. You can go back to singing about trains when the world calms down again.

Recording Notes: Sounds excellent, though there is some audience talking at times, I tried to get away from the talkers as much as I could, but it was sold out so I could only do so much. For the most part they aren't too annoying though, and given the rowdiness of this gig, it kind of adds to the atmosphere of what it was like to be there. If you are a Billy Bragg fan you must download this show - you won't regret it!