Rodriguez fans in raptures
The appearance of the rather frail, black- clad, 72-year-old Detroit-based Rodriguez - helped on stage because of his advanced glaucoma - was greeted by rapturous applause and shouts of "I love you, Rodriguez".
It was his first appearance on a Perth stage since 1981 and his adoring fans were determined to let him know how much he'd been missed.
Renowned for never using a set list, he rather curiously launched into a dirty, psychedelic version of Jefferson Airplane's Somebody to Love - the first of eight cover songs he played, jukebox-style, throughout the night. A version of Lou Rawls' gritty Dead End Street and Little Richard's Lucille followed before he finally got down to business and treated the crowd to flawless renditions of favourites Sugar Man and I Wonder.
Sadly his voice is nowhere as strong as on his best-loved album Cold Fact (1970) and, I hesitate to say it, on the side screen with his black top hat and shades, he looks a bit like Slash's grandfather. But the big songs from the Searching For Sugar Man movie - Crucify Your Mind, I Think of You, Like Janis, Establishment Blues and Inner City Blues - all hit a responsive chord despite the heavy rain that started halfway through the set.
Between numbers he went into a huddle with his three-piece backing band, comprising two Kiwi musicians - the exceptional guitarist Brett Adams (Tim Finn's band) and bass player Maree Thom - as well as drummer Pete Wilkins from Melbourne-based reggae outfit Blue King Brown, as if they were deciding on the next song. There was little patter between the songs.
The inclusion of mainly 50s cover versions, including Blue Suede Shoes, Love Me or Leave Me, Fever and Cole Porter's Just One of Those Things - not to mention the closing number, Frank Sinatra's I'm Gonna Live Till I Die - were somewhat of a distraction from the charismatic singer's fine output of poetic numbers about life, love, poverty and rebellion.
Earlier in the evening, indigenous singer-songwriter and all-round Australian national treasure Archie Roach, a headline act in his own right, kept the audience enthralled with tales of how he'd survived a life full of setbacks. Accompanied by guitarist Craig Pilkington, his songs about the Stolen Generation, living on the streets (Took the Children Away and Down City Streets) and the loss of soulmate Ruby Hunter were profoundly moving.
The full evening of entertainment was opened by local newcomers, the female acoustic folk-pop duo Fox Cat Rabbit. They were followed by Sydney alt-folk trio Little May, who impressed with their three-part layered harmonies.
His adoring fans were determined to let him know how much he'd been missed.
