I hadn’t seen the Kevin Borich Express since January last year. But booking a ticket for a show at that venue isn’t something I do lightly … I had to be brave. Very brave.

But I was pleasantly surprised. The sound system was great at delivering the instruments so focusing on Kevin’s guitar playing was magical. The vocals however were a bit mangled though not an unusual problem at a gig. Just don’t ask me what he said between songs. Except for some simple questions like, ‘Are there any Kiwis out there?’… I have no idea what he said.

I like watching the crowd at his gigs. Mostly they want to listen. They are predominantly male. And many I suspect are old musicians. Some of them I have seen at lots of Express gigs over the years. A few people were dancing; the occasional bloke danced on his own. But listening & watching were what was done most.

The 1st set – the one where he is seated, playing his beautiful National guitar included Lonely One & Soap Box Bitching Blues At some point recalled him telling me at interview how he liked a lot of different styles. And almost on cue there was the song with the country feel …

The 2nd set included favourites like She Cant Help It & The Place. I love The Place (his song about the legendary Sydney music venue the Bondi Lifesaver) & would have liked to hear the words again; not just have them in my head. He asked if there were any requests … Well, I think he asked that. He certainly delivered Little Red Rooster which brought whistles & cheers from many other than the requestee. As I recall, the last time I heard him do that song was at the Towers Rocks Festival in Far North Queensland in the red hot dirt on a hot September Saturday back in 2015.

Then before we knew it he was running Going Downtown into Going Somewhere & it was all over. But we did leave topped up after a good night of music, even if the sound wasn’t the best. I am so glad that interstate musicians of his calibre are now coming back to Melbourne.