Loren @ The Upfront Club, Maleny 03/07/09

I think that Northern NSW troubadour Loren has taken quite a liking to Maleny.  He has become quite a frequent visitor to our little community and his reputation as an amazing entertainer for young and old alike is spreading fast. On Friday night he played to a full house at the Upfront Club enthralling everyone from the little kids running around and dancing to “Postman Pat”, to 86 year old Upfront regular Evan who always seems to have a bevy of buxom females to accompany him in a slow waltz.

After enchanting the littlies, Loren went on to play a song he says he is a bit obsessed with right now; Paul Kelly’s beautiful road trip song They Thought I was Asleep. Loren also mentions his fascination with another one of the world’s great singer/songwriters; Neil Finn.  I must say I share his obsession, I think I was probably Split Enz’s number one fan in the early eighties.  Loren tells the story of how his next song Room came to be, “Neil Finn, I wrote this song for you”. He tells the audience how he snuck in back stage to a gig and met Neil in person to tell him about the song he had written for him. “I kinda hoped that he would love me as much as I Ioved him”, Loren tells us, “but when I looked into his eyes I realized he didn’t know me at all”. 

Well, I don’t know what the likelihood is of Neil Finn ever reading one of my reviews either. It’s probably a lot less than the likelihood of him listening to Loren on YouTube. But if he does, I’d like to say this: Neil, if you don’t know who Loren is by now, you should. Sit up and listen, there aren’t many songwriters who can capture the essence and meaning of life and all its’ emotions the way Loren does. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll dance, clap and sing along, but most of all you’ll relate, and you’ll never want to miss another Loren show ever again.

He finishes up the first set with a song he describes as the worst song he ever wrote; Old and Retired with an accompanying hilarious tale about grey nomads Bill and Suzy’s outrageous adventures on the road. Almost right on cue a shiny new Landcruiser comes coasting down Maple Street, right past the windows of the Upfront Club. I happen to look up from my hot sticky date pudding and out the window from my cozy table inside near the fire.  The sight of the huge caravan attached to the back of the Landcruiser had caught my eye and I just had to laugh. The timing was perfect. I have no idea if anyone else noticed it.

By the end of Bill and Suzy’s introduction to the joys of Reggae, the crowd is singing along and the littlies are bopping away up the front and playing chasies in and outside the Café. A short break later and the second set begins. 

The Café is bustling with the sounds of chattering diners and busy kitchen sounds and I find it hard to concentrate on listening to the music. I think to myself that this is too good to talk over and I am annoyed if someone tries to engage me in conversation.  The lyrics in the music Loren writes are always poignant and insightful and contain messages of well-being and delicious descriptions of those intimately human moments. It’s golden stuff.

Loren’s talent is in being as good a story teller as he is a singer and songwriter. He engages the audience in both conversation and in song while welcoming the little kids and grandparents alike to express themselves in dance.When Loren sings a series of five songs he has written about his brother, including one of my personal favourites; Island Man, he provides insights into how his detachment from the family has affected Loren. It gets me thinking about how this creative family of musical talent also has a member who has taken a different path with his insights.  I guess it’s always a choice of what you do with what you know. I like what Loren is doing. I love music, and I am in awe of those who make it, especially the really good stuff, but there are not many artists who have really impressed me from the very first minute I heard them. Tracks, I may love, lyrics that I adore or a voice that just ignites my soul; there are a variety of ways music can touch you. But Loren is the whole package; possessing a great voice, amazing songwriting skills and strumming a nice guitar, it’s sit-around-the-campfire-with-a-bunch-of-meaningful-friends kind of music.

By the end of the second set tables were being moved to make more room for dancing and Loren commented on the fact that the Upfront had been converted to a disco. The only disco song he professed to know was Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive which erupted into a raucous sing along. The covers were continued with Imagine before bursting back onto the originals with On By Day and the song he wrote to play between talks on biodynamic farming at Woodford one year; Good Seed. I love that song!

Playing well past ten, Loren admitted at one point to have run out of songs.  But he still managed to come up with yet more well past his allotted time slot, much to the appreciation of the crowd who quite happily lingered. You can check www.upfront.org for links to some of the classic clips Danny Rose has managed to capture on his mobile phone and posted on YouTube.  

For a taste of Loren at the Upfront Club, Maleny go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhpYLBYFN68&NR=1 

Loren will also be playing at Maleny’s own Utribe Festival in September. Stay tuned to Soulshine for more info on the festival and take a peek at the official site; www.utribe.org for more information on full line-up and ticket sales.