I wasn't going to write a review of the Ry Cooder & Nick Lowe show, but someone on the Nick Lowe newsgroup seemed less-than-thrilled by some of the YouTube clips so I felt I had to write a rebuttal! So here it is:
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My wife, our son and I saw Nick and Ry in Melbourne on Saturday night and we all agreed it was a near-perfect show. We've all been long-time fans of both artists but we hadn't seen either of them live before.

Both were really great but we all felt that Ry slightly outshone Nick, probably because he had the twin assault of really great singing and absolutely phenomenal guitar playing! He is so under-stated and non-flash and yet any guitarist would understand that what he does is brilliant.

Also, Ry selected a lot of classic songs from his great albums (How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live, Fool For A Cigarette, Little Sister), whereas Nick was a little more adventurous in choosing songs that perhaps many of us weren't as familiar with. Some were from his more stately country-tinged albums of recent years, some were covers, and some were of unknown provenance. He did, however, treat us to a slow, acoustic rendition of (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love And Understanding which was very well received by those in attendance.

I've never heard a three-piece that sounded so complete - even when Ry was playing lead there was absolutely zero sense that anything was missing from his accompaniment!

The backing singers (Juliet Commagere and Alex Lilly from the support act) were absolutely top notch and added a nice touch of colour to the songs in which they took part, especially Chinitto Chinitto from Ry's Chavez Ravine album, where they took the lead.

We had felt that Joachim Cooder's drumming was a little loud, bombastic and heavy during Juliet Commagere's support slot, but his playing for his Dad and his mate was sympathetic and soulful.

Nick was personable and chatty between songs, and he still seems just as cool as he did back in the days when we were besotted by him and Rockpile on Top Of The Pops. And Ry's introductions were evocative and amusing.

So - from our point of view it was a wonderful night and we couldn't really have asked for more.

I really hope they put out a CD or, better, a DVD of this tour!

- DC

Set List:

Fool Who Knows (Nick)
Fool For A Cigarette (Ry)
Vigilante Man (Ry)
Losing Boy (Nick)
Chinitto Chinitto (Juliette Commagere and Alex Lilly)
Crazy Bout An Automobile (Ry)
One of these days (Nick)
Crying In My Sleep (Nick)
Down In Hollywood (Ry) (from Bop Til You Drop, 1979)
Half A Boy Half A Man (Nick)
One Meat Ball (Ry)
Raining Raining (Nick)
Go Home Girl (Ry)
I Got Mine (Ry)
FDR in Trinidad (Ry)
He'll Have To Go (Ry)
Thirteen Question Method (Ry)

What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding (Nick)
Little Sister (Ry)
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live (Ry)