Hometown shows are always the best ones, but for Stefan Hauk, having just stepped off a plane from California promoting his signature Italian RedSeven amp, while also having completed a successful run of shows in Estonia and Italy, it was a special one to truly come home to – a showcase of growth for him and an audience filled with his most treasured fans.
The gig at Adelaide's The Gov (8 February) as part of his current Australian tour, which also included Woodford Folk Festival, exhibited his newly released album, 'Before The Dawn' with a few tracks off his prior albums, 'Long Road' and 'Heavy Handed'.
We were also treated to some sweet renditions of songs by Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix sprinkled in the mix.
Support band, Caressa set the table for the evening with something leading into that bluesy undertone of the night with a touch of '70s old-school Fleetwood Mac charm about it.
They serenaded us with their new single, 'Blue', in a set list filled with whimsical, folky acoustic guitar along with some more electronic-blues sounds paired with pitch-perfect a capella, boasting spine-tingling vocal harmonies.
The Adelaide band, who formed at the beginning of last year, have already put their stamp on the indie gig scene with a line-up of shows both here and interstate. This is one to put on the radar for the next generation of fans who dig that old-school music we all love.
After a momentary interval, Stefan Hauk graced the stage with legendary and highly acclaimed Sydney-based session drummer Gordon Rytmeister, Adelaide bassist Damien Steele Scott, and jazz pianist David Goodwin on keys. The same line-up can be heard on the new album, along with Adelaide-based, world-renowned drummer Ben Todd on percussion.
Stefan launched himself centre stage and grabbed the audience's attention with a track off the new album, 'Butterfly Tattoo'. The perfect opening riff introduces the drums in the fourth bar of the track with a timely bang and on the eighth bar, a keyboard glissando landing on the tonic to bind it all together as one sound.
The band was alive and so was the crowd sitting in anticipation for what was to come and it didn't disappoint. The groove was well and truly laid down for the night.
Stefan then stripped it back to his roots, offering up a classic blues rendition of Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'Empty Arms'; an artist who has quite clearly had the deepest influence on Stefan's journey stylistically.
The true magic of Stefan's playing is in knowing he never acquired the skills we see onstage through means of study like a lot of blues and jazz musicians who play on this level do.
Rather, it was all entirely self-taught and adopted through performing with the people he first found music in. His ears are open to receiving information and fine-tuned to the tiniest of detail.
Every stroke of the string, the variation in vibrato, the way the overtones sing through his signature amp from his custom-built Telecaster are carried to the back of the venues he plays in; it's no surprise the audience is captivated by his fingers sliding solo across the fretboard into a menagerie of sound.
It's all curated so delicately, which is what makes him one of the finest upcoming blues musicians in the country. It's during these moments, where he's taken on a journey through the eyes of his inner-child dreaming of being who he is becoming, that this really shines bright.
Another track off his new album, 'Top Of The Shelf' is exemplary to the blues feel we witnessed above, carried into his own work. It is soulful cry for something which is longed for.
'Run' was a track that highlighted the diversity in Stefan's talents and influences. It wasn't hard to grasp where the feel was derived from, having recorded with Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice on Hauk's 2020 single 'Truth'. A sound likened to Purple, exemplifying some heavier, dirty guitar riffs and punchy basslines.
'Right & Wrong' was a track that further broadened the scope of diversity, hitting a literal high-hat on that fusion-funk feel. With a band made up of top-shelf jazz musicians, this one really hit the mark and had the crowd bopping along, the song sounding like if Jimmy Page and Chick Corea had a music baby.
The combination of Goodwin's bouncy key riffs and glissandos with the syncopated back-beats and hats from Rytmeister, and Damo laying it down firm on the bass underneath with the riff Stefan set down at the beginning, this was the song off the new album that showcased the real skill and ability to seamlessly shift between genres within the band.
His final notes were played on one of Hendrix's greatest masterpieces, Red House, with Stefan sitting poignantly on the edge of the stage, a spotlight shining on soft, sultry guitar riffs that spoke a message of gratitude to his audience in the intimate moment.
There was no encore, instead Stef noted he and the band would not be running off stage only to come back like is usually done. Without hesitation, he ended the night by showing off his incredible band with some limelight spots in one of his funkier tracks. With the impressive level of musicianship of this band, there's sure to be many more encores to come.
