Past Event

Fred Smith and Men in Suits present: Urban Sea Shanties

8th Sep 2017

Event Image

Presenter: Fred Smith
Website: http://www.fredsmith.com.au/
Event Duration: 180 minutes

Fred Smith joins forces with Men in Suits to present Urban Sea Shanties.

The performance is based on the album Urban Sea Shanties, recorded in 2009 in league with the Spooky Men's Chorale. It's a collection of thinking man's drinking songs really.  There are moments of beauty and delicacy, but on the whole, it’s a celebration of misadventure - an exploration of the masculine psyche executed with a restrained buffoonery befitting the subject matter!

Not convinced? Well, peruse the reviews:
 
“A delightful collaboration between two of the hottest acts on the Australian Festival Scene.  Switch off your finer sensibilities and tune into your base chakra”  Andy Copeman, Daily Planet Website
 
“Urban Sea Shanties shanghaies the listener into a rich musical journey from the bars of Birmingham to the flooded streets of New Orleans, from the Mosques of Karachi to the Dapto Dog Track...painting a musical picture of adventurous travel exploring a wide, colourful world…” John Hogan, National Film and Sound Archives  

“It is about time Australia caught up with Fred Smith. This remarkable singer-songwriter – who at various times reveals influences that range from Paul Kelly via Lou Reed to Loudon Wainwright III to Leonard Cohen – keeps releasing amazingly accomplished albums.” (Bruce Elder, SMH).

Fred Smith has been a favorite on the Australian festival circuit for years, much loved for his gentle wit, gift for story and melody, and sublime collaborations with Liz Frencham and The Spooky Men's Chorale. Now the rest of Australia is catching up with Fred Smith.  He was the subject of an Australian Story feature. And he recently wrote a book, The Dust of Uruzgan, published by Allen and Unwin and available in all good bookstores.
 
Men in Suits specialise in unsolicited appearances in unexpected places at unscheduled times singing inappropriate songs to unsuspecting audiences.  Having burst onto Melbourne’s music scene with an unexpected debut performance at the BMW Edge in 2007, Men in Suits has continued to surprise and delight audiences in south-east Australia with its repertoire of deadpan originals, revolutionary anthems, Georgian lullabies and classic pop songs (with twist).  Its 20-plus members sing unaccompanied and unabashed in a style of their own.