Paul Dempsey's Tasmanian shows set to shine

“It's much more intimate really, when it's just you and a guitar” Dempsey said when speaking to The Examiner last month. 

“You can hear every single word and it creates a much more intimate atmosphere, because you can hear every glass clinking. It encourages people just to hush and listen a lot more carefully, a lot more closely than they would at a rock and roll show.

“It’s great to just stand up there all by yourself with a guitar and feel the room close in around you.”

Fans can expect a cross section of songs at his upcoming trio of Tasmanian shows. Enjoying the banter between himself and the crowd at these stripped back gigs allows for Dempsey to play audience requests along with tracks from his solo records, Something for Kate hits and some “fun covers”, as Dempsey put it.

Over the past year Dempsey has been dishing up classic covers from David Bowie, Pixies, Wilco and Bruce Springsteen, constantly changing his set list.

While stripping things back for new cuts Idiot Oracle and 2009’s Out The Airlock would seem straightforward, it’s a long way from the mid 1990s when Dempsey was starting out with Something for Kate. 

“When we were starting out we were teenagers and just full of raw energy. All we wanted to do was bash the crap out of our instruments and make the biggest racket that we could,” Dempsey said.

These concerts will be the last chance to catch the stripped-back versions of Dempsey’s work for sometime, as he’s set to make a return to Something for Kate when they join You Am I and Spiderbait at some rocking A Day on the Green dates later this year.

Paul Dempsey (solo) plays Devonport’s Tapas Lounge on Thursday, September 15, Launceston’s Country Club on September 16, and Hobart’s The Republic Bar on September 17.