:: Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - Hamer Hall, Melbourne - August 2008

By: Saeed Saeed

A Kasey Chambers gig is always a family affair. Her father Bill Chambers is always on hand as the silent guitar hero who manages to play the guitar, lap steel and ukulele all within one song. Her mother Diane can always be found in the merch stand flogging the latest Kasey Chambers tea towel. And her brother, producer and ‘financial adviser’ Nash is always lurking behind the shadows making sure the Kasey juggernaut is running smoothly.

But the intimacy level tonight reached a new level as Kasey (and family) was touring with her husband and song writing partner Shane Nicholson. The duo recently released their debut collaboration Rattin’ and Bones, the most rootsy set of songs any of them has released in their respective careers.

The set began with back to back Kasey staples Last Hard Bible and I’m not Pretty Enough. More Kasey solo material followed with Barricades and Brick Walls and Cry Like a Baby. Once the crowd was effectively won over the real treat began with both singers getting stuck into the tracks from Rattling' Bones. Their superb harmonies made spine-tingling work of acoustic driven tracks Once in a While, Monkey on the Wire and Wild Flower. The studio band then joined the stage and delivered sturdy versions of the album’s title track, The House that Never Was and Devil Inside My Head.

For an encore Kasey performed a beautiful rendition of her first hit, The Captain with Shane on piano. It was followed with the swinging Pony and Hollywood. Jimmy Barnes even dropped by to out-howl Kasey in a loose bluesy number. The show was rounded off with the country how-down We’re All Gonna Die Someday that came complete with whoops and mass crowd clapping.

Roots music is one of those genres that rely on an intimate setting in order to appreciate it homespun tales and loose-yet never sloppy- song structures. Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson’s musical chemistry and husband and wife chatter transformed the elegant Hamer Hall into their lounge room. Definitely one of the country’s worthy live drawcards.