Wednesday, 9th March – Review by Anni Fordham

It was like they never left. Twenty years into their solid career, THE WAIFS made a triumphant return to Fremantle last Wednesday night, greeted with rapture by the many loyal fans who had waited years for a reunion with an old friend.

Melbourne brother-sister duo TINPAN ORANGE opened, providing delicate, mellow sounds which were the perfect accompaniment to the early evening picnic. Finishing with an acoustic cover of the Bangles’ 1986 classic ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’, Tinpan left the stage with a few new fans.

Clear skies and a gusty warm breeze greeted Donna Simpson, Vikki Thorn and Josh Cunningham, along with drummer David Ross Macdonald and bassist Ben Franz, as they took the stage. As the relaxed audience got to its feet the Waifs opened slow, warming up with the first track off their new album ‘Temptation’, ‘I Learn the Hard Way’. It didn’t take the trio long to make an impression, with second song Buffalo revealing Thorn’s soaring voice and the band’s trademark tight harmonies.

The band appeared to be genuinely enjoying their return to Freo. “I don’t know if you up the back can see us, but we’re smiling,” Thorn yelled, before the band launched into arguably their biggest hit so far, ‘London Still’. The crowd reacted instantly, recognising Cunningham’s familiar finger picking. Simpson’s gravelly voice carried the emotion of the song as if she had written it yesterday. A pregnant Thorn played the harmonica with such subtlety and emotion it was hard to believe she had probably played the song live a thousand times. “This is the day this song was written,” Simpson said, referring to her father’s birthday. “Happy birthday, Jimmy. I love you.”

The show was full of old, familiar tunes, peppered with new material. Title track ‘Temptation’ was a slow, hypnotic lilt led by Cunningham. Thorn took it up a notch, with a dynamic vocal performance showing both restraint and unbridled emotion. The group appeared to be having a blast, Simpson belting out the sexy toe-tapper ‘Pony’ before thanking the audience for supporting the band over two decades.

Familiar hits ‘Lighthouse’, ‘Highway One’, ‘Fisherman’s Daughter’ and ‘Bridal Train’ received a sing-along reception, and a sparse arrangement of ‘Sun Dirt Water’ was sung solo by Thorn. Cunningham again took the lead on ‘Moses and the Lamb’, another deeply spiritual number which saw the band enthralled but appeared somewhat lost on the crowd, many of whom were seen heading to the bar. The momentary lapse did not detract from what was a triumphant homecoming for the two-thirds West Aussie group, who at times seemed in disbelief that they had been doing this for 20 years. The audience witnessed another powerful solo performance by Thorn with ‘Papa’, an a cappella ode to her father, which finished with the man himself joining Thorn and Simpson on stage to sing the final few strains of the song.

Not content with the 17 solid songs they had already heard, the audience welcomed the group back on for an encore. ‘Gillian’ and ‘Crazy Train’ featured and the band raced towards the end of the show like a runaway freight train, relentless and infectious. The evening felt like hanging out with an intimate friend who had been away a long time. They’re the same Waifs, but they have new stories to tell.