Jake Clemons @ Toff In Town, Melbourne 13 August 2014

Final encore, performed without a mic, within arm's reach of the crowd.

Jake Clemons kicked off a 10-show tour of Australia in a cozy Melbourne CBD venue called the Toff In Town tonight. Joining him on his first solo tour of a land he's visited the past two years as E Street Band saxophonist were Brett Mayer on keyboards and Matt Musty on percussion. A talented young man named Hamish Anderson opened. They took to the Toff's small stage at 9:55 and left it at 11:45.

Those are the hard facts of tonight's show. At 3:00am I'm bereft of tools to properly capture the courage of Jake's performance, his multi-instrumental prowess, the passion of his vocals, the atmosphere created on a Wednesday night in Melbourne. He returns to Australia a conquering hero after back-to-back tours with Springsteen but takes the stage solo as an unknown entity.

Matt, Jake and Brett.

Jake conceded early in the show that he'd played on much bigger stages in Melbourne but on this night, in this little joint, he felt more nervous. His reaction? Pull no punches, take risks, push his small band, emotionally and physically wade into the audience, offer hope and then deliver it. Parts old-fashioned tent revival, New Orleans street jam and good-time rock & roll singalong, Jake and his quietly brilliant sidemen created a bond with an audience that strengthened with each song. I've listened to Jake's 'Embracing Light' EP many times but can't claim an appreciation for his body of work, so breaking the show down by individual songs is pointless. Obvious highlights included 'Love'll Never Change' from his 'It's On' EP, as the simple act of reaching for his sax brought cheers; a "song about desperation" that Jake introduced by coaching the crowd to provide the sound of a train via "stomp - clap - stomp - clap"; a devastating cover of Ryan Adams' 'Two' that began with an emotional description of hearing the song at the exact moment he realised he "needed to be two people"; a song called 'I Believe' dedicated to his uncle Clarence Clemons that Jake explained was written after being asked to be Best Man at the legendary "Ambassador of Love's" fifth wedding (Jake also offered a warning to "be careful of what you tell me after the show -- I may write a song about it"); and an ethereal, and necessary, 'Song for Hope'.

Jake not only left his oversized heart on the Toff's small stage tonight. He tossed it to the audience in a gesture of faith, hopeful we'd toss it back. Did we? Jake seemed genuinely moved by the crowd's reaction and graciously stuck around for photos and autographs and oddballs like myself shaking his hand afterwards. He played to a crowd that knew his face and sax prowess well but were mostly clueless about his solo work. The tour continues tomorrow night in West Melbourne at a venue called The Substation. My merry band of Jake fans -- and many others in attendance tonight, no doubt -- will follow him there. Something this real and genuine is like sunshine to choked and fading plants.

So of course we embraced the light ...

Jake's got to come up with a way to keep his glasses on.

Jake frequently left his mic to play closer to, and sometimes among, the crowd.

At the conclusion of a song with a particularly jazzy sax solo, Jake tipped his hat to Brett, saying, "That song's never had a saxophone solo."

Inside the Toff.

A lifetime of musicianship was impressively displayed throughout the nearly 2-hour show.

Jake called opening act Hamish Anderson out to jam on a song the talented guitarist "had never heard before soundcheck". Again, a gutsy call, for which Hamish was up to the task.

After thanking the Melbourne crowd, the show ended with the evening's performers before the stage singing an a cappella 'Carry Me Through'.