“The irony of this gig is that Woody Guthrie never played a gig like this in his life”, Billy Bragg told the sold-out crowd at Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on Friday night.

In town for the Melbourne Festival, the British singer, who is known for his left-wing activism, took to the stage to celebrate the legacy of the influential folk singer.

Whilst Bragg performed several Guthrie classics such as the political “Slip Knot”, “I Ain’t Got No Home In This World Anymore” and one of his personal favourites, “Pretty Boy Floyd”; the focus of the night was the celebration of songs found in the Woody Guthrie archives in New York – previously unheard until they were produced by both Bragg and Wilco on the compilation album Mermaid Avenue.

Bragg had the audience enthralled, discussing the 14 year writing and recording process that took place during the production of Mermaid Avenue; “The tunes of these songs were lost forever, but you can see the shape of the tune in his lyrics and Nora [Guthrie’s daughter] encouraged us to record them with a slightly different outlook”.

It was clear from the start of the night that this performance was going to be so much more than just a man with a guitar. After realising that he had left his songbook backstage, Bragg started the night by introducing both himself and Guthrie to the audience, diffusing the potentially awkward situation until he received the book and launched into the insanely catchy “Aginst Th’ Law”.

“Like me, Woody wasn’t particularly musical and once said ‘anyone who knows more than two chords are just showing off’!” Bragg joked of his simplistic playing style, switching between an old acoustic and a steel guitar throughout the two hour set.

Also similar to Guthrie, Bragg is a natural born storyteller and it is was his narratives throughout the night that made this performance so rewarding.

Bragg has such an obvious passion for what he was talking about, with the activist incorporating current social and political commentary throughout the performance, the crowd clearly enjoying the fact that he dedicated “She Came Along To Me” – which includes the line “I’m sure the women are equal/ and they may be ahead of the men” – to leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott, for creating a “new definition of the word: misogyny.”

Hits of the night included “Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key”, the goose-bump inducing “Go Down To The Water” (sung to the tune of the traditional Irish folk song “She Moves Through The Fair”), and “Another Man’s Done Gone” – which he dedicated to the late Wilco member Jay Bennett.

“There is that unspoken question of why didn’t someone like [Bob] Dylan, [Pete] Seeger or Arlow [Guthrie] do this album…” the Brit admitted, “I heard him second hand, I didn’t grow up singing “This Land Is Your Land”… but he wasn’t a hero to me because he sang that song, he’s a hero to me because he wrote on his guitar THIS GUITAR KILLS FASCISTS,” Bragg yelled dramatically before launching into the set’s final song, the sing-a-long “All You Fascists”.

Returning to the stage to the crowd’s applause, Bragg finished the night with three originals from his 35 year career and the crowd enjoyed his commentary on the city of Melbourne in “Yarra Song” and social commentary in the night’s closing song “Waiting For The Great Leap Forward” before leaving the stage and throwing his tea bag from his cup into the crowd.

2012 sees the 100th anniversary of the birth of Woody Guthrie, whom Bragg describes as the “father of the protest song.” As Bragg admitted at the beginning of the night, neither he nor Guthrie are known for being particularly talented guitar players, but this fact was completely forgotten when you hear the deeply biographical stories in their songs.

Friday night was a clear indication that Bragg has a deep passion for Guthrie’s lyrics and legacy ensuring he, like Guthrie, will go down in history as one of the twentieth century’s hardest working and passionate activists and musicians.

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