End of Session Party: Ben Lee Review

Ben Moffitt

Let’s play the word association game. OK? OK. Now what do you think when I say “Ben Lee”? A nice cup of tea? Acoustic guitars? A raging ego? End of Session party?

Hmmm…I think the last one looks a little out of place too. And seemingly so did the people of Wollongong this evening, with the crowd looking surprisingly thin for such a well-renowned musician. Perhaps it was due to last-minute assignments, or just bad scheduling – but this was not like other end of session parties – a night of alcohol-fuelled dancing and revealing your crush on that certain someone from that tute. No, this was more a sit-down, sing-along, bring-your-Grandma affair. There weren’t even any drums.

Bizarre booking aside, this was an interesting night indeed. Opener Wons Phreely (this is his real name, poor guy) played a sweet little set of his cute singer-songwriter indie pop, falling somewhere between Ben Lee and Ben Kweller but lacking a certain panache. Former Australian Idol contestant Lisa Mitchell was next, peddling a surprisingly good brand of acoustic-folk, her raspy voice (like a less annoying Joanne Newsom) betraying her tender age of seventeen.

However, all of those in attendance were there to see wonder-boy Ben Lee, who entered the stage in a gaudy gold suit with a Lenin-adorned acoustic guitar. With only a keyboardist and guitarist accompanying him, tonight was a stripped back affair. This, however, did not play into Lee’s talents: anyone who is familiar with Lee’s oeuvre knows that Lee is capable of releasing some dud albums (see Hey You. Yes You) between his usual pop brilliance (see Breathing Tornadoes, Awake Is The New Sleep) - and unfortunately, his most recent album and the one he drew from the most this evening, Ripe, falls into the latter category. In such a setting, the shortcomings of the mostly dull tracks from this album were made even more evident without a backbeat to hold them up.

When Lee dipped into his older catalogue, however, things were different. Wheeling out a couple of energetic songs from when he was just a teenager, ‘Pop Song’ was a particular highlight, whilst a smooth ‘Gamble Everything For Love’ actually sounded better in its stripped-back form than on album. All was forgiven in the end, however, when Lee asked the crowd “are you ready to go with me on this one?” When the crowd replied with applause, Lee promptly unplugged his guitar, jumped off the stage and made his way through the crowd, only to climb on a Unibar table next to the sound desk and launch into a totally unplugged version of ‘We’re All In This Together’. And the amazing thing is, everyone was. The Unibar, was for a moment, transformed into a pseudo-Dashboard Confessional concert, with everyone singing along with Lee, and Lee looking genuinely thankful and surprised at how well it had worked out.

As with most things involving Ben Lee, the night was a little patchy, a little strange – but most importantly, it was a little bit special.