Sydney Reviews

With clarity of sound and snappy repartee, Diesel took us on a trip down music memory lane on Saturday night, first night of November, at the Bangalow Bowling Club. 

From the go-get, with guitar changes abounding, this one man band with his carnival of sound had the audience totally involved, apologising for “getting a bit carried away...”

Solo performers have nowhere to hide: they must come up with the goods no matter what; there is no safety net other than the one you travel with. Diesel is travelling well – not only did he keep the audience in the palm of his hands the entire performance, he had them up and out of their chairs, dancing and singing along. Audience participation is hard won but not for this veteran performer: after 25 years of playing music, Diesel still has the youthful exuberance of a teenager in a garage band, with the experience of a maestro.

Diesel is not only full of soul (and rock and country and funk and and and) but shares soulful banter, running through his past experiences with the audience, adding words of wisdom. “Best thing for any parent is that they have some affect on their son...” (prior to introducing a Jimmy Witherspoon number) referencing his own dad’s input into Diesel’s love of music.

Diesel asks, “Tell me if it is too loud” and then picked up ‘the beast’ and played Neil Young’s Cinnamon Girl. Wow. I could feel my face rattle. Then, like the maestro he is, Diesel slipped from powerful mode into Byron mode (we were in Bangalow, after all) with an orchestral-feel “lovelight”, throwing in a good-ole whistle for good-measure. Like I said, wow.

Singles Tour is a good mix of covers, too: not too precious to only play Dieselesque numbers, but still eliciting “yeahs” and “woohoos” for familiar riffs from his signature tunes. The crowd went ballistic with Tip of my Tongue: all age groups, I might add. Some songs never die, and let’s face it, it is all about the delivery!

After playing Rodriguez Sugarman with his support act, Benjalu (also solo and brilliant) and “getting his hands around Jimi Hendrix” the crowd goes wild. This is stuff legends are made of, and Diesel has earned his place up there with the best of them. 

Powerful delivery and confidence in his material, Diesel marries guitar prowess, powerful vocals and solo delivery like a musical god, and “When it all Comes Together” it just feels right, doesn’t it?


Lit Up – The Single Tour ’89 - ’14
Diesel

Venue: Bangalow Bowling Club
Date: November 1, 2014
Tour details: dieselmusic.com.au/lit-up-singles-tour/