Although Ed Kuepper has not released any new compositions in ten years, he has certainly remained present and prolific in other ways in that time, continuing to perform regularly and reevaluate, reinterpret and add to his already extensive back catalogue.
After crossing paths over the years, Ed and the Dirty Three's Jim White's mutual admiration has lead here, collaborating live for several years culminating in the release earlier this year of their joint album 'After The Flood'.
While his performances under the banner of The Exploding Universe Of Ed Kupper have seen Ed exploring the nuances of his compositions mostly across the span of his solo career, the material being performed with Jim encompasses the breadth of his career including earlier work with The Saints and Laughing Clowns.
The parameters within which Ed and his various 'covers' bands have rejigged his back catalogue have shifted and blurred over the years, to such an extent that this pared-down duo have wider scope than previously covered and one that I imagine will continue to expand as they continue this collaboration.
Local artist Alana Jagt and her four-piece 'trio' open the evening (2 October), doing their best to warm up the audience performing a selection of alt. country songs mainly from her debut 'Goodbye Grote Bollen' (which she spruiks as she spots her dad arriving with a bag of records) including 'Imagining Lime', a cover of Ween's 'Sarah' and the unreleased 'Song To Sleep'.
From the start of their set, with Ed's rumbling guitar playing accompanied by Jim's loose marching band drums gradually increasing in pace and intensity during 'Miracles', it is immediately apparent the rendering and recontextualisation of these songs in duo mode is far greater than the sum of the performers onstage.
Their combined years of experience are reflected and embedded in these performances, which hold up very well against those usually done by larger ensembles.
There is a beauty and grace in Jim's poetic drum fills as he subtlety juggles a drumstick with one hand contributing a fluttering, butterfly-wing drumming to 'The Ruins'. 'Everything That Flies' is unrestrained, more chaotic before a contrasting, contemplative 'Demolition'.
While this run of shows is a pause in Ed's 'airing' of material during his tenure in The Saints, that band does get a look in with 'Swing For The Crime', the gradual, building tension reaching a satisfying climax, topped off by the audience's rallying applause.
Some of the songs seem to go on forever, almost segueing in and out of the other before the gypsy-punk hook of 'Come One, Come All'. A clear standout is the foreboding, sinister execution tale 'Collapse Board' conveying palpable, overwhelming doom followed by the incendiary 'The Crying Dance', Jim playing with militaristic precision.
Before the set comes to a close they perform an actual cover, the late Ollie Olsen's 'Win/Lose', a circular, hypnotic, driving performance that serves well to throw the audience off the scent before a well-known song to end with.
'Eternally Yours' starts slowly to audience chatter before becoming generally recognisable and brings the set to a close before Ed and Jim leave the stage.
'Rue The Day' is a deserved encore for an audience genuine in their appreciation for the set that came before, Ed graciously commenting: "That's more like it," as he and Jim return to the stage for this completing salvo, with Ed commenting afterwards they have no more songs as this is a new band, a joke rejigged from last year's Saints shows.
Read our recent interview with Ed, promoting The Saints '73-'78 headlining performance at 4ZZZ's ZED50 50th anniversary concert in Brisbane on 25 October.
