Historic rock 'n' roll revival 1 First With The News Edition

• Published in: The Courier-mail
• Main Author: Connors, Matt
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brisbane, Qld Nationwide News Pty Ltd 16.07.2007
• ISSN: 1322-5235

UNDER the auspices of its former artistic director Lyndon Terracini, the Queensland Music Festival featured many gifted musicians and captivating productions, but it rarely captured the imagination of Queensland's rock 'n' rollers. New artistic director Paul Grabowsky grasped this oversight as an immediate priority and with Pig City -- the QMF's first serious foray into the dirty back streets of rock 'n' roll -- has achieved a resounding success. As a celebration of the music scene documented in Andrew Stafford's historical tome Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden, this mini festival was never going to be exhaustive, and despite a few complex omissions, you couldn't have asked for a better compendium of Brisbane's rock 'n' roll history. Prior to the much anticipated reunion of the original Saints, the audience were divided by the tribute to the Go-Betweens by Kate Miller-Heidke and the Brisbane Excelsior Band. Of course, the Go- Betweens are no more following the passing of Grant McLennan last year, but this event couldn't go by without recognising their place in Queensland's music history. Robert Forster and Paul Grabowsky splendidly rearranged Streets of Your Town and Cattle and Cane for brass, and while Miller-Heidke added much vocal flourish -- as she did when accompanied by Keir Nuttal on acoustic guitar for Clouds -- the tribute left some punters cold.