The Men My Mother Loved

There is a certain thrill that comes from being up close to first-class musicians performing live, that has nothing to do with age or appearance or celebrity status, but everything to do with the combination of the music and the skill of people who can make it happen. That’s the first thing that strikes you at the opening of Tommy Bradson’s cabaret performance, The Men My Mother Loved. Bradson acknowledges his fellow performers during the finale, but sadly the combination of them playing their solos as he introduces them, the audience’s enthusiastic applause, and my cloth ears (resulting from a slow descent in a pressurised cabin from 30,000 feet with a heavy head cold) meant that I couldn’t make out their names.

La Boite Theatre have transformed their rehearsal space into a perfectly sweet cabaret venue, with round tables fronting up to a small rostrum, just big enough for the keyboard player, guitarist and drummer who accompany Bradson in this fantastical reminiscence and homage to his mother. He begins with a lullaby, which evolves into ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top (If you Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)’, and thence flows into a lyrical stream of consciousness prose poem, interspersed with songs, for a young woman, Janelle who just loves rock music and rock musicians.

Bradson is a consummate storyteller, and the ‘poet and provocateur’ label suits him to a T. Is the story true, or is it an embellishment? Who knows – truth is a wanderer who keeps her own time throughout our memories. What is for sure, is that the songs evoke that period of the 1980s when OzRock was flourishing, and when a young woman working in a bar that supported local music could pick and chose her lovers, and tell them to piss off if they behaved poorly.

Bradson’s descriptions of the life of the city and the musicians who provided its heartbeat are bursting with astonishing imagery. The images come so thick and fast I only managed to scribble down one phrase to give you a taste of the magic. Janelle leans out of a car window, ‘Skyhooking the city wind in her sails’.

This is a beautiful way to spend an hour, with four fine musicians, one of whom also sings and tells you a delightful dream of a story of his conception, and the extraordinary woman who raised him. It’s full of joy and affection and mystery and great songs. Did I mention that he is a wonderful singer, changing vocal qualities to provide just a hint of the progenitor of each song, back in the day, without ever resorting to mimicry? His respect for and love of language infiltrates the songs, bringing them to fresh life and energy, revealing them as classic evocations of their own time and place, flavouring our memories with the spice of nostalgia.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5