March 2015 Capsule

Reading – To Try Men’s Souls by Newt Gingrich

Former politician Newt Gingrich has teamed and long-time author William R. Forstchen have combined to produce a sprawling historical fiction epic that tells the story famous Battle of Trenton, which was the brainchild of General George Washington.

I thought the book was particularly good when focused on Washington himself – a man gripped by the very real possibility of failure – and the mammoth task he had in trying to keep everything and everyone together. The authors have done a great job of getting into the man’s mind as he worked through so many problems. His relief at the end is palpable, and his concern for those who march under his command cannot be questioned. He’s been brilliantly characterised here.

The other two major characters are the liberty-loving Englishman Thomas Paine, from whose pro-American paper the title of the novel was derived, and Jonathan Van Dorn, a private in the Continental Army, who also happens to be a native of Trenton, New Jersey. His family still lives there, including one brother who deserted from the Army earlier in the war, and another who, it is later revealed is a British loyalist.

Overall, a good read, but the use of flashbacks to bring Thomas Paine into the story was trying a little too hard. Yes, I know the title of the entire novel was named for one of his more famous lines, but it seemed like Gingrich and Forstchen had included him for that reason alone. At times, their portrayal of Paine bordered on being comical.

Listening – The Spirit of the Anzacs by Lee Kernaghan

After attending the Australian War Memorial a few years back, country artist and former Australian of the Year Lee Kernaghan was significantly moved by what he saw and read in Canberra that he set about creating a tribute album to Australia’s rich and varied military history.

Working alongside long-time collaborators Garth Porter and Colin Buchanan, Spirit of the Anzacs is the end result of Kernaghan’s moving visit to the War Memorial: a vivid and far-reaching musical history of the Anzac from April 25, 1915 through to today, where, as is often forgotten by most of us in the course of our lives, Australians are still in harm’s way in the Middle East.

Whilst Kernaghan is most notable for his country music leanings, anyone who considers shunning this album because they think it’ll be straight-up country music would be doing the work a great disservice. Kernaghan is as varied here as he’s ever been. Yes, there’s the occasional country-driven tune, but they are few and far between. There’s something for everyone here, particularly the stirring, anthemic title track which features, amongst others, Shannon Noll, Guy Sebastian, members of Sheppard, Jessica Mauboy and Noiseworks front-man Jon Stevens.

What sets this album apart is the content. Each one of the songs has been crafted either by drawing experiences from letters and diaries from servicemen and women. Kernaghan and his team were given extraordinarily and access to the vast archives at the Australian War Memorial and have used it to good effect. These are brilliant songs, ones that will take you on what is at times a stirring journey (and, at other times, a bleak and stark one) through our country’s military history.

Every conflict that Australia has been involved in over the last century is represented here. Of course there are songs about Gallipoli, Beersheba and the Western Front, the Darwin bombings, the Kokoda Trail and Vietnam – a faithful cover of ‘I was Only Nineteen’ – and but Kernaghan pays great respect to the Korean War and the current-day fighting in Afghanistan, too. He doesn’t mind yielding the microphone to guests like Lisa McCune, John Schumann (of Redgum fame) and rising country singer Sara Storer. There’s even a guest vocal appearance by Victoria Cross winner Ben Roberts-Smith. It's brilliant!

Watching – The History of The Eagles

 

Not the documentary of the ‘Hotel California’ hit-makers (although, I hear it's very good), but the live concert! I’m happy to say I can tick listening to ‘Hotel California’ live off my Bucket List.  I caught the Sydney leg of their latest Australian tour at Allphones Arena in March, and they were nothing short of sensational!

I realised about forty-five minutes into the three-hour-plus set just how many really good songs these guys have! More than I really considered until the words of classic rock anthems were bouncing off the walls of a sold-out Allphones Arena at Sydney Olympic Park, and being sung back to the Californian country-rock outfit with great gusto by upwards of fifteen thousand people. At the end, no one wanted to leave.

The format was something like a live documentary. You know those shows where band members talk about a song or an important before switching to a film-clip of the song they’d just discussed? Well, on stage, the core of the band – Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmidt and Joe Walsh – would talk about a song or a moment, either live or on taped video for the big screens, and launch into the songs.

Early on, it was just Frey and Henley, undoubtedly the driving forces behind The Eagles. They were joined later by founding guitarist Bernie Leadon, and Joe Walsh wandered out onto the stage without any fanfare. The band included a percussionist, multiple keyboard players and Don Felder’s replacement, Steuart Smith, who is an extraordinarily good guitarist.

Man, did the hits roll out, one after the other, and then another, and the vocals of Henley and Frey and even Schmidt have stood the test of time. Pretty much every song I wanted to hear, the band played, with the exception of Don Henley’s ‘Boys of Summer'. That song is one of my all-time favourites. Disappointed it wasn’t there, and it’s the only reason I didn’t give this gig a complete 10/10!