Robert Forster

Robert Forster

For seven songs, Robert Forster is alone, armed only with six-string, voice, wit and stare. Perched atop a stool, surrounded by inch-deep water and spotlights that point skyward, it's among the most peculiar locations he's played since a ski resort in January, but the unflappable pop icon stays true to his conservative stage manner. A hundreds-strong crowd of all ages populate the shores of the Queensland Art Gallery's Watermall, and gradually quieten as he opens with a Grant McLennan tune, 'That Way', from the 1983 release Before Hollywood. Soon after, he airs a b-side from that release: another McLennan tune, 'Only A King In Mirrors'.

Watching Forster out there, alone on the water, I'm struck by the enormous loss represented by McLennan's absence. It seems mighty unfair that we're witnessing just one of The Go-Betweens here tonight, after the decades that the pair spent crafting a catalogue of pop excellence. What courage it must take to replicate the lyrics and chord progressions written by an old friend and songwriting muse. There's no hint of melancholy in Forster's delivery, nor sense of mourning among the crowd; it happened three years ago, after all. I feel obscene for writing these words, like I'm prodding at Forster's bruised heart for mentioning McLennan in this context. But more than the half-dozen times I've seen the man perform in the last few years, this stage configuration highlights the emotional distance between us and he.

Enough. These dark thoughts pass. He follows with 'Pandanus' from his 2008 album The Evangelist, then 'Spirit Of A Vampyre' from 1987's Tallulah. There's 'Darlinghurst Nights' from 2005's Oceans Apart, the final Go-Betweens album, and 'Surfing Magazines' from 2000's Friends Of Rachel Worth. Forster invites our participation on the latter's vocal refrain, and we're happy to oblige. The aged couple in front of me bob happily.

Then Forster's wife, Karin Bäumler, and Adele Pickvance join him on stage. Bäumler's violin leads the Tallulah opener 'The House Jack Kerouac Built'. Both it and 'Bow Down', another violin-led track from 1987's Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express, are true delights. Pickvance plucks at an upright bass and provides back-up vocals. The trio perform a new song, 'Love Is Where It Is', from Forster's forthcoming album; he wryly remarks that they're recording it "in November 2010, in Stockholm". We smile, and assume that he's telling tall tales.

The set's biggest surprise is 'Strawberry Wine', a song by Brisbane pop band The John Steel Singers, which follows 'Part Company' from 1984's Spring Hill Fair. Moments after he sings the first lines - "As I walk through the park/Holding hands with a blonde" - a cheer erupts from the far side of the Watermall; the band are in attendance, and apparently unaware of Forster's plans. Coming from a songwriting luminary like Forster, it's a compliment of the highest order to cover a song released just two years ago. He and his female accompaniment can't quite hit the high notes required for the chorus "whoo-hoo-hoo!", but it matters not. For two minutes, it feels as though the Brisbane music community group hugs.

Amusingly, the trio have to part the crowd to head backstage, but they're soon summoned for an encore: another new song, 'I'm Gonna Tell It', which sees Forster expressing disdain for biography ghostwriters, film directors and, presumably, music journalists for attempting to tell his story. He'd much rather tell it himself. We watch him leap off stage and stride through the crowd, never doubting his ability for even a moment.

by Andrew McMillen