Last Wednesday night as the diggers settled in for an early evening ahead of dawn services across the nation, British folk-rock act (they really need to drop the folk aspect of the label, but more about that a little later) Turin Brakes broke a decade long absence from our sunburnt continent with a glorious 90-minute set that straddled the really old, not so old and some damn shiny new material.

‘Average Man’, ‘Clear Blue Air’ and ‘Pain Killer (Summer Rain)’ featured from their seminal album, ‘Ether Song’, and sounded as fresh as they did circa 2003. ‘Fishing For A Dream’ featured a nice, acoustic re-rub.



While a midset mash-up of Pink Floyd had a spirited front section nodding away enthusiastically. Offering their sincere apologies for their ten-year absence from our shores throughout, the duo of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, who were joined onstage by Rob Allum and Eddy Myer for a much punchy sound, unveiled two new songs. And judging by the fangs these two rock numbers had, album number seven will be well worth waiting for — second half of the year, guys. Come again real soon.

Photos: Munya Chawora