‘Contender for the gig of 2022’ - review of Bill Callahan at SWX Bristol

With his neat charcoal coloured suit, sensible black shoes and silver hair brushed to the side, Texan singer songwriter Bill Callahan looks more like a small-town congressman than a cult musical hero.

Callahan’s UK visits are increasingly rare these days and fans packed into every crevice of SWX Bristol on the opening night of a five-date British jaunt before resuming his US tour.

An added bonus for alternative music fans of an older vintage was the appearance of veteran Australian drummer Jim White, whose CV includes Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and countless others.

As always, any fans hoping to hear a career-spanning bucket list set of old favourites may have felt a little short-changed but Callahan has always been an artist living in the here and now rather than looking in the rear view mirror.

From his days as frontman of the hugely influential Smog to his solo work, Callahan has built up a huge back catalogue so distilling it into a set list must be the trickiest of jobs.

For the first half of this sprawling two- hour set, the focus was the new album, Reality.

The record is only a fortnight old and still sounds fresh to even the most ardent followers but there are already future classics forming, not least the beautiful and epic Coyotes and Cowboy, both songs that had wild-haired drummer White reaching for his metal brushes to add an almost jazzy edge.

Callahan’s style and deadpan image may be lo-fi Americana but the descriptive, fragile songs evoke powerful, cinematic images of campfires in dusty deserts, winding rivers and wild horses. Lots of horses.

Having drilled deep into the new album, Callahan finally rewarded the hecklers shouting out favourites from the back catalogue.

Rock Bottom Riser was meatier and faster than the recorded version and all the better for it. A rumbling rendition of Drover drew the best response of the evening.

Callahan doesn’t play encores as a rule but he ended with a sprawling version of Riding For The Feeling that left his loyal fans well fed but still hungry for more. With only a few weeks left in 2022, this was certainly contender for gig of the year.