Concert Review - Tim Freedman - Hawke's Bay - 3rd October 2025
Presented By Small Hall Sessions
Tim Freedman
Review By: Rob Harbers
Artist/Band: Tim Freedman
Venue/City: Meeanee Hall, Napier
Date of Event: 3rd October 2025
Phrases like ‘best ever’ are all-too-frequently tossed around by some of the regular attendees at the Small Hall Sessions. As such, they can tend to take on an air of over-familiarity, in the way of the boy who cried wolf. However, the consistency with which it was to be heard coming from the mouths of those leaving last night’s show by Tim Freedman must surely be enough to push past such cynicism!
Tim Freedman isn’t a name that’s well known in this country, as opposed to his native Australia, where his career trajectory could be described as being like that of our own Jordan Luck. His time in The Whitlams saw him rise to the upper echelons of the entertainment sphere, and his name still remains well known over there. And yet this is his first ever performing trip to this side of the Ditch! As well as Tāmaki Makaurau and Pōneke, his run of shows sees him visiting Meeanee and Maraekakaho – quite the coup for Jamie and the Small Hall Sessions crew, and enough to bring a few new faces along.
Tim is accompanied on this tour by his frequent collaborator, guitarist Ollie Thorpe. This format allows them to have some fun with things, exemplified by the first half of the set, described by Tim as ‘pretending we’re opening for ourselves’. This consisted mainly of covers, a grab bag of ‘peculiarities and oddities’ from the likes of Warren Zevon, Bob Dylan, and the bard of Sydney, Perry Keyes. The Dylan songs, in particular, went down well with the crowd. Closing out this set was a song that Rolf Harris stole from history, but they were stealing it back, Two Little Boys. The lyrics that were penned in 1893 (!) (that’s even older than Jamie!) were accompanied by a completely new arrangement, composed by Tim, and formed a poignant point on which to head out to sink another drink and have time to think.
The second set covered territory more familiar to the fans present, consisting purely of original material. Subject matter for these songs ranged far and wide, both chronologically and thematically. Shot through with an intensely literate bent, these were true ballads, in the original sense of the word. Drawing from rich lives, the tales told formed a narrative based squarely in the realm of everyday people, both in their struggles and pleasures. Struggles such as gambling addictions, rural drought, aging; pleasures such as friendship, encapsulated in the line, ‘All my friends are fuck-ups, but they’re fun to have around!’ But there were subtle undercurrents also, an example being Kookaburra, which has observations of farming at its core, but leaves for the listener to uncover the fact that these observations were made while driving past in pursuit of meeting up with a dealer in hallucinogenics! Ah well, you take what you can from the words, I guess…
In the context of lyrics, surely the high point would be The Whitlams’ best-known song, No Aphrodisiac. This, I’ll confess, is the only one of their repertoire with which I was familiar, from those distant days of the Triple J Hottest 100 CD compilations, in their time some of the best collections of alternative music to be found in one place. The song formed a definite highlight, being both an ode to loneliness and a means of time travel to a more optimistic era.
Through the literacy a subtle humour pervades, exemplified by the jaunty delivery of the ‘conversation you might have in the parlour of a meth den’ that is Nobody Wants To Be You, climaxing in almost a doo-wop style. Hey, your life might be shit, but you can still swing through the tears and misery! The night concluded with the Whitlams’ theme song, Gough Whitlam (what else could it be called, right?), a tribute to the politician who provided their naming inspiration (and who also presented them with their songwriting award for No Aphrodisiac, trivia fans!)
But at this point it was time to say goodbye, the timbers of the Meeanee Hall having hosted only the second appearance in Aotearoa of one of Australia’s premier musicians, off to the third in Maraekakaho tonight, and then Pōneke bringing up the rear and having to try to beat the experience!
Back on the boards next week for the Sessions!
Tim Freedman 2025 PR