John Butler Trio triumphs at Atelier

By Josh Oudendijk

On Friday evening, the legendary funk and rock musicians from the John Butler Trio returned to den Atelier to put forth a blast of a sold-out show where more bodily fluids must have been sweat out by the entire crowd than the amount of beer sold throughout the concert.

Had it been up to the audience, the musicians could have easily performed a pumping all-nighter.

Australian based John Butler made his debut in 1997 at a local hotel in Freemantle as a singer-songwriter. Today, he has evolved into one of Australia's most influential guitarists and musicians.

Together with the stunning Byron Luiters on bass and Grant Gerathy on drums, the three men form the John Butler Trio performing songs relating to life experiences, political issues, environmental activism and peace.

JP Cooper opened up for the Trio and the tightly packed crowd from front to back of the Atelier was lured into the vibe of laid back, groovy and melodic Sunday morning tunes.

The solo artist, of whom I had not heard of before but only spotted walking out of the train station with his suitcase and guitar, played a number of his impressive acoustic tracks.

Had some parts of the crowd however respectfully stopped chattering while Cooper was playing and listened to the people having to shush them, the man from Manchester would have made even more of an impact.  His voice was very delicate yet strong. The guitar could however have been much louder on the speakers. 

There seemed to be a problem with restringing John’s twelve-string guitar, but after a 30-minute wait the John Butler Trio hit the stage. It was well worth it.

Power and pure energy radiated through the rows, reflecting off the back walls and striking everyone again. Tracks such as "Better Than", "Treat Yo Mama" and "Bullet Girl" from the new album Flesh & Blood were delivered to us with solid grooves and melodies. 

But it was John Butler's concert-energy-level in particular that blew me away. Apart from the beautiful interlude of the 10-minute instrumental "Ocean", there were little intimate, small songs, keeping up the exciting punch with crazy upbeat tunes on an incredible level for two hours straight in a world of spectacular light shows.   

There was not much space to dance, but the musicians, who you could feel were having a great time, were forcing you to move to the beat, no matter if that meant violently bumping into someone next to you.

Grant's drumming was very tight, Brian's bass lines were groovy. Guitarists in the audience must have been slightly jealous of John’s impressive collection of guitar pedals. He always used them wisely, creating unexpected sounds and effects with his instrument.

John Butler to many, is a musical genius. His compositions are intelligent, his lyrics witty, his guitar playing skilled. This combination sounds like a code of perfection.

It wouldn’t have bothered me if sometimes the energy level and loudness were brought down to hear more of John’s lovely solo tunes, but if I look back at it now, god did we have fun.

Some say this might possibly have been the best gig they‘ve ever been to. I haven’t lived long, but without hesitation I must agree. Tonight, the John Butler Trio successfully knocked us all flat out.

Read/hear exclusive interview with John Butler - Click here!