Ed Kuepper
D.C. Cross
Camelot Lounge, Marrickville, NSW
Thursday April 25, 2025
PHOTOS: Judi Dransfield Kuepper photos

Ed Kuepper stormed across Australia last year with The Saints ‘73-’78, reclaiming the legacy of his partnership with the late Chris Bailey and the band they created when Ed was a 14-year-old on detention at school.

The Saints ‘73-’78 withstood the usual uproar from purists and the same arguments that had been wheeled out by fans of Queen, Dead Kennedys and the Sex Pistols when their original members were part of reconfigured line-ups.  The point with The Saints '73-'78 (and The Aints! before them) was that Ed was the bloke who co- wrote the songs and the one who had been tearing down musical walls since the original band split.

The Saints spanned only five years of Ed’s 50-year career. I have always said that Kuepper, in many ways, has had the most remarkable and diverse musical run of any of his contemporaries. He’s been exploring so many genres, textures and styles. In many ways, his career is comparable to that of Neil Young.

Tonight, we have Ed fronting two sold-out solo shows in solo configuration. It’s like an artistic reaction to the blistering LOUD garage/grunge/ (here goes that hated word) punk shows of six months ago. The Gibson SG has now been replaced by an array of Stratocasters, Kuepper’s guitar of choice in Laughing Clowns.

But first to the support act and D.C Cross is back to support Ed just as he had done on the 2023 solo tour.  The ex-Gerling chap describes his music as “primitive acoustic music” but this downplays what he delivers over a 30 minute set. The man is evolving musically all the time.

The music of D.C Cross is layered and he is a storyteller, purveying a strain of folk music reminiscent of Rambling Jack Elliot. Tonight’s set takes us into a world of wit and self-depreciation.

Kuepper audiences are incredibly loyal and Ed has them onside before he’s strummed a chord. I suspect that most of them here are aged over 60 and have every one of his albums.  A fair proportion will have been following Kuepper since Laughing Clowns.  

“Horse Under Water” stands out early in the set with its intricate guitar-work. Ed relaxes an eases into his work as he croons. The three Stratocasters he has lined up each have different tunings. His capo work is an overlooked part of Ed’s playing and his experiments with chord styles is a hangover from his fascination with jazz in the Clowns.

“Electrical Storm” provokes a near room-wide standing ovation. It’s from his groundbreaking first solo album and sounds as fresh as it did when recorded with drums almost 40 years ago. It marked a shift in songwriting after six years of musical excursions with Laughing Clowns. Tonight, it’s more reflective and introspective in its delivery but every bit as powerful.

“The Ruins” allows Ed’s guitar playing to really stand out. Of course, it’s a complete departure from the blistering SG and Marshall stack that lifted the roof off Enmore Theatre in October 2024 but that’s the intention.

“Messin with the Kid” is a welcome inclusion and fans of the original Saints are beside themselves. It’s the night before Good Friday and they have their hands in the air like kids making a find on an Easter egg hunt.  This solo version is slower, substantially reworked and a departure from barre chords to arpeggios.

“Collapse Board” is, as Ed remarks, “the most depressing song ever written” and is featured with a new re-working. It’s also been re-imagined and re-arranged on his most recent new album, “After The Flood”, recorded with Jim White to take on an even darker feel.

Ed finishes the set proper with “Eternally Yours”, that remarkable song from “Law of Nature”, and this version leaves the original’s bellowing saxophone behind to take on a sound that’s heavy metal in comparison.  The crowd at Camelot is now standing and applauding as Ed ponders that long walk down to the dressing room before realising it’s a pointless exercise.  He sits down.

There’s a sense that Kuepper realises that this is an audience that doesn’t need to be impressed They are devoted and loyal so he asks them if there are any songs they want. He teases with a raw and truncated “New Bully in Town”.  

The encore finishes with “The Way I Made You Feel” from his most commercially successful and acclaimed album, “Honey Steels Gold”. The audience sings along like an evangelical church choir.

Tonight, Ed’s been on stage for more than 80 minutes and has weaved through 50 years of songwriting, exploring a range of emotions and showing off some exceptional playing. Kuepper’s voice these days is a gentler and introspective instrument, even expressing his sensitive side at times.

Ed turns 70 this year and although I have compared his career to that of Neil Young it’s less about the music as the adaptations he’s made.  As an artist, he been taking detours and chances. Kuepper’s live shows are always moving forward and giving glimpses of artistic visions that few, if any, of his contemporaries in Australia can match.

Miracles
Fever Dream
Electrical Storm
Horse Under Water
The Crying Dance
Descending Into Blue
Friends With the Leader
Pavane
It's the Ruins
Messin' Pt. II
Swing for the Crime
All of These Things
Car Headlights
Collapse Board
Eternally Yours

Encore:
Last of the Steam Powered Trains
The Way I Made You Feel