Review: World Party at WorkPlay Theatre

World Party with Theresa Andersson
WorkPlay Theatre
June 18, 2006

Most of the time, when I admire an artist, I want to see said artist to achieve well-deserved commercial success. But if that had happened to World Party, I would have missed out on a terrific show last night.

Starting their first U.S. tour in seven years, World Party made the most of the intimate setting of the WorkPlay Theatre and the small but enthusiastic crowd that turned out for the band's 90-minute set. Frontman (and essentially solo artist) Karl Wallinger was charismatic, witty, and self-effacing during the show, as would be expected from a man who has put out intelligent, socially-aware Britpop for 20 years. He was joined onstage by David Duffy on fiddle and mandolin and John Turnbull on electric guitar, both of whom put on excellent performances.

Despite being around for the better part of two decades, Wallinger has put out only five albums during that time, and the band hit most of the highlights from the catalog. Opening with "Put the Message in the Box" from their first album, the band also put forth strong efforts with "Ship of Fools", "Is It Like Today", "Sunshine", "Beautiful Dream", and crowd favorite "Way Down Now".

With this being the first show of the new tour, there were a few minor glitches, most of which occurred when Wallinger was changing tunings on his guitar. "I miss roadies," he quipped during one session. "I used to have one who would just go out and sing the songs for me."

It was obvious the band was enjoying itself, and that became most evident when Wallinger first sat down at the piano and cut loose with an apparently unexpected rendition of the Beatles' "Martha My Dear". It appeared that Duffy and Turnbull had no idea that Wallinger was going to play the song, but they seemed to enjoy it as much as the audience, which sang along.

Opening act Theresa Andersson also put on a good show, with her Joplin-esque vocals being a highlight. She also suffered from some opening glitches, when her fiddle would not cooperate during her opening number.

In any case, it was an excellent night for music. As an acquaintance put it last night, "This is somebody I've loved for years, but never thought I'd see."

My thoughts exactly. Who would believe that World Party would be playing Birmingham, much less opening their tour here? But once the disbelief was swept aside, the music took over. And it was a great night for fiddles and guitars, but not in the context you might expect.