Former Redgum frontman John Schumann and his band the Vagabond Crew to play two-night Fringe show

Adelaide folk rock act Redgum recorded some of the most loved and enduring songs in Oz rock, and this Fringe fans will get a chance to live it all again.

The Redgum Years featuring John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew will play at The Gov on February 20 (sold out) and 21.

Redgum was a band that blazed its own trail. It was a dusty and very Australian trail, lined with the stories of immigrants and union bosses, farmers and ex-cons.

They sang in broad accents and talked about Port Pirie, Woodville and Kulgera when other Aussie bands were singing about Memphis and New York.

One More Boring Night in Adelaide, Poor Ned, Long Run, If You Don’t Fight You Lose, I’ve Been to Bali Too and, of course, I Was Only 19 became classics.

They’re about to get a new lease of life with former Redgum frontman John Schumann and his band, the Vagabond Crew, presenting The Redgum Years in two special concerts for the Fringe. It is, Schumann says, about as close as fans will get to a Redgum reunion.

“There’s been a lot of pressure over the years to re-form Redgum,” Schumann says.

“But that was never going to happen.

“I left Redgum in 1986 and the rest of the band continued for four or five years after I left.

“And I don’t say this with any disrespect but, other than Huey and Verity, it became a bit like my Dad’s old fishing knife, which had five new blades and three new handles.”

Former Redgum frontman John Schumann and his band, the Vagabond Crew, will present The Redgum Years in two special concerts for the Fringe. Picture: Emma Brasier / AAP

Schumann did team up with old comrades Hugh McDonald and Michael Atkinson for a record to pay tribute to bush poet Henry Lawson, and the temptation to get the old gang back together was strong, but band members had other commitments and the time was never right.

“Huey and I then started playing together in the Vagabond Crew, and we did that from 2005 until he died 2016 and, for me, that was kind of enough,” Schumann says.

“After Huey passed, I just wasn’t interested at all.

“And I would never go out and play as Redgum. I wasn’t entitled to do that; it would have been disrespectful to the other members.”

While Schumann has made new projects, the demand for the songs, though, never waned – as evidenced by the shouted requests from the floor whenever Schumann picks up a guitar.

“The set list that we’ll be playing has been drawn from requests yelled out over a number of years,” Schumann says. “But it will be fantastic to revisit those songs.”

“The set list that we’ll be playing has been drawn from requests yelled out over a number of years,” Schumann says.

Schumann thinks Redgum songs could be filed into three broad categories: pure nostalgia, songs that still packed a political punch and songs that, with just a little tweaking, could be once again made relevant in 2021.

And if everything goes to plan, Schumann could be close to his biggest hit ever – a new national anthem.

The singer-songwriter has teamed up with good mate and former Goanna frontman Shane Howard to work on a replacement for Advance Australia Fair.

“Look, I’m sure it will be comprehensively ignored because Shane lives in Port Fairy and I live in Adelaide,” Schumann laughs.

“But at least we will know that we had a go.”

The Redgum Years featuring John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew, Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, February 20 (sold out) and 21.

adelaidefringe.com.au and thegov.com.au