Karl Wallinger, better known as World Party, had a brain aneurysm in 2001. The band’s last proper album, Dumbing Up, was released the year prior. To say I ever expected, in 2014, to see Wallinger and his mates performing in an intimate club to 150 fans would be a lie. And yet that was the case Saturday night at The Hi-Fi. Wallinger, along with his crack duo of John Turnbull on guitar and David Duffy on fiddle and mandolin, put on a terrific show that hit all the high points of the band’s catalog.
The median age of those in attendance skewed higher than any other show I’ve attended in recent memory, but that’s not to say the crowd wasn’t boisterous. Their delight at seeing the band was apparent, as the sing-a-longs and awkward dancing would attest. Wallinger has said he has a bunch of new material stored up, but he wisely didn’t try introducing it. Rather, he gave the audience what they wanted — a walk through the band’s most well-known hits, with a particular focus on the band’s best record, 1990′s Goodbye Jumbo. Approximately one-third of the set was dedicated to that album, including Put the Message in the Box, Is It Too Late?, Sweet Soul Dream, and final song of the night, Way Down Now. Other highlights of the night were a bluesy Ship of Fools, a delicate Is It Like Today?, noteworthy for Duffy’s mandolin playing, and the one Dumbing Up track that made the cut, a powerful Who Are You? That song enabled Turnbull to really unleash his guitar chops.
For 100 solid minutes the crowd was rapt, Wallinger seemed cheerful (despite an unsuccessful attempt to change out of a sweaty shirt midway through the show), and the sound was great. A fine night on memory lane. I’m anxious to see what the future holds for World Party.