Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: David Harris
Australian Musician attended the iconic Corner Hotel in Richmond to see acclaimed alternative rock and indie-pop band Eskimo Joe celebrate and perform the 20th Anniversary of their Black Fingernails, Red Wine album. This was the first night of three consecutive sold out shows at the Corner and I loved that they chose to do these smaller intimate shows rather than in a large stadium, as it gave fans the opportunity to be up close and connect with the band.
Australian singer-songwriter Alex Lloyd was the support and played a delightful acoustic set featuring a mix of songs including EASY EXIT STATION, BLACK THE SUN, SLOW TRAIN. Lloyd performed a wonderful cover of The Beatles BLACKBIRD and Leonard Cohen’s HALLELUJAH. I found the crowd to be incredible disrespectful and distracting, talking the whole way through his set, so much so that Alex asked the crowd “What are you all talking about?” When he sang his well-known Aussie anthem AMAZING the crowd finally stopped talking and everyone sang along in perfect harmony, it sounded sublime.
Eskimo Joe are from Fremantle, Western Australia (WA) and formed back in 1997. Eskimo Joe released a special Black Fingernails Red Wine 2025 Cabernet Merlot produced in Margaret River WA for this special anniversary which you could buy at the bar. Eskimo Joe performed the entire Black Fingernails, Red Wine album in order as it appears on the album.
They emerged on stage to loud applause. Kav looked sharp with his signature indie-rockstar look, dyed jet-black hair with a styled quiff, eye make-up, sharp tailoring, projecting an edgy, brooding stage identity. They commenced with the atmospheric and hypnotic album opener COMFORT YOU which is predominantly an instrumental song with only a few words sung by Kav revolving around the promise “I will come, come to comfort you.” The song has a gentle keyboard intro and slowly builds. This was followed by the dreamy NEW YORK about the band partying too hard and missing the opportunity of getting a mega deal in the USA.
You can feel the pain in lead vocalist and bass player Kavyen ‘Kav’ Temperley’s vocals as he bleeds his heart and soul out with every lyric during this song. Stuart MacLeod (Lead guitarist and backing vocalist) and Joel Quartermain (rhythm guitar and backing vocals) both harmonise so well with Temperley creating beautiful melodic songs. You also have Paul ‘Horsepower’ Keenan on drums and Timothy Nelson on keys and acoustic guitar. The band played incredibly tight and their musicianship was outstanding along with their connection to the crowd. You could see the band enjoy playing together and they were soaking up the celebration of this special anniversary show by having a bit of fun on stage with some friendly banter.
At the beginning of each song, Kav told a short story about how the song came together before they performed it. He got everyone clapping along as they launched into the title track BLACK FINGERNAILS, RED WINE which was clearly a crowd favourite had everyone smiling, clapping and singing along. At the end of the song, Kav commented “It feels weird playing the album’s biggest song so early in the set, but it’s the third song on the album!”
Over the years, Kav has mastered emotionally charged pop-rock anthems and storytelling. He said the song that initially started the making of Black Fingernails, Red Wine album was BREAKING UP which captures the fragility and impending collapse of a relationship. It is a powerful song and the lyrics are metaphors to express the pain and emotional weight of the break-up. He then talked about them being asked to provide a song for the 2010 film The Last Song. Their song SETTING SUN (previously titled Forever Young) was chosen and is about the desire to stay young forever. It appears at the end of the film which famously served as the soundtrack for the first kiss between Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth.
Kav talked about Western Australia and how remote it is to the rest of the world and said that once you hit your 20’s, everyone heads over to London. When they were in their 20s, they were touring with the band in North Queensland and many of their friends were in London when the 7 July 2005 London bombings took place. That led into the haunting, repetitious and emotive LONDON BOMBS which conveys a sense of helplessness of trying to contact their friends in London to check they were OK.
One of my favourites from the album is SARAH. The intro to this song commenced with just a single spotlight shining on Kav as he performed a stunning a cappella opening showcasing his falsetto vocals. It had the crowd watch on in total silence and awe. As the song progressed, the diversity in his vocal range was incredible. Raw, soaring and gritty vocals with emotional intensity and the driving drums and energy of the song lifted the crowd’s spirits. He talked about the long hours they spent in the studio drinking mid-strength beers (laughed) trying to produce the final few songs for the album which led into THIS IS PRESSURE. It is an intense song with Kav’s raw vocals making you feel the discomfort, challenges and emotional suppression that builds up inside you dealing with life matters and the pressures of completing an album.
Kav said the band wanted to make a song that sounded widescreen (cinematic metaphor to describe an expansive, immersive and stadium-sized production) like one of their favourite bands INXS. They came up with the rhythmic and intoxicating groove BEATING LIKE A DRUM. The sense of atmospheric tension and mood of this song carries into the instrumental REPRISE which was driven by dreamy, subtle synth elements performed by Timothy Nelson along with pulsing guitars. The melodic SUICIDE GIRL followed and was a stunning song with Kav’s vocal delivery outstanding.
Eskimo Joe kept up their show tradition by instructing everyone to turn and face the person on your left, introduce yourself and then do the same to the person on your right and then put your arms around each of them and sway along to HOW DOES IT FEEL. This is the final track on the 2006 album and is an emotive and powerful bookend with its dark, introspective exploration of vulnerability and the inevitability of loss.
The band left the stage for a short break and much to the delight of fans, Eskimo Joe then returned for a 5-song encore playing several of their popular songs including FOREIGN LAND from Inshalla (2009), THE FIRST TIME (2024) and the catchy sing-along LOVE IS A DRUG from Ghosts of the Past (2011). Kav asked the crowd if anyone was at the Melbourne Big Day Out Festival at Flemington Showgrounds back in 2001 and there were a few show of hands. That led into their song WAKE UP from their self-titled 2001 album. The show finished with one of the bands most successful hits and crowd favourite FROM THE SEA from A Song Is A City (2004) which was the perfect song to end a wonderful evening and special anniversary show. The Black Fingernails, Red Wine 20th Anniversary tour will carry on across the country throughout May and June 2026.
SET LIST:
First Set – entire album in order as it appears on the album
COMFORT YOU
NEW YORK
BLACK FINGERNAILS, RED WINE
BREAKING UP
SETTING SUN
LONDON BOMBS
SARAH
THIS IS PRESSURE
BEATING LIKE A DRUM
REPRISE
SUICIDE GIRL
HOW DOES IT FEEL
Second Set Encore –
FOREIGN LAND
THE FIRST TIME
WAKE UP
LOVE IS A DRUG
FROM THE SEA
