APIA TOUR

Every year in May, Cathy, Ed and I hit the Civic Theatre for the APIA Tour.

The APIA tour features older Australian artists, and it can be hit and miss, but is totally worth checking out.

This year the concert commenced with the divine Deborah Conway. I have worshipped at her alter since I was a teen grooving out to Do Re Mi. I fell in love with her sublime String of Pearls in my early 20s. She pretty much is the soundtrack of my life and I have seen her perform many times. I love her kick arse, feminist sensibilities and that amazingly large voice.

Her set was tight and amazing, sticking to newish songs, and only adding two hits, Alive and Brilliant and Man Overboard. But it didn't matter to me, as a fan, I knew each song back to front. She looked amazing and was having fun.

I must admit I thought someone as indie as her to do such a commercial tour was odd, but I guess they money was worth it, and thank goodness for that!

Next up was Joe Camilleri with the fabulous Bull Sisters. Billed as the Black Sorrows, it was a mix of many songs, with Joe being the consummate performer but the girls being the stars of the show. 

I've said it many times before, those girls are National Treasures. The joy they exude singing and their voices could be bottled and save all the problems of the world I think!

After a break, Colin Hay took the stage, just him and a guitar. He started off telling some funny stories, I swear he could take that show on the road and make money there too. He's a very funny man. With each APIA show, their is always one performer I am most curious about and keen to hear and for this concert Colin was it.

And he was magnificent, I was beaming the whole time. Hearing him sing Overkill, one of my all time favourite songs was a sheer delight. That distinctive and strong voice was even better than when he was at the height of his fame. His new stuff was great, his old stuff better than it sounded back then. He stole the show.

Mental As Anything rounded out the night with their hits. Although when I say Mental As Anything I mean Greedy Smith with some dudes . It was a little sad and I realised for every great MAA song, there are about 3 bad ones. But it was a spirited performance.

The finale is all performers on stage, performing together with each of them doing a hit, and then coming together with a classic at the end, this time, Friday on my Mind.

APIA Good Times Tour 2016

I was lucky enough to attend the APIA Good Times Tour for about the 3rd year running. I usually go with my lovely friends E and C but due to some last minute issues they were unable to attend so Mum and Dad came along in their place. The three of us had a rockin’ good time, but I missed E and C.

 

We took our seats at the beautiful Civic Theatre early and got some splendid people watching in before the concert started. A concert of that type attracts some remarkable people! There were the cutest little boy and girl sitting the row in front of us, they ended up being JPY’s grandkids!

JPY began the concert with a bang. Oh my, it may well have been the best start to a concert ever that I have seen. He came out and delivered a supreme cover of Down Among the Dead Men (Flash and the Pan). It’s a pretty loud, powerful song and JPY just slayed us with his version. I love that song and I love JPY so I was thrilled and that alone was worth price of admission. But he just kept on going, delivering a sublime set of greatest hits {Pasadena, Keep on Smiling, Do Wah Diddy, Standing in the Rain, I Hate the Music, Yesterday’s Hero} and the band was tight and he sounded better than I had ever heard him sound. He was simply on fire and killed! And he knew it, but not in a cocky way, just a way a good musician knows his stuff. His banter with the crowd and those he knew within was funny and humble and sweet, he smiled or rather grinned the entire set.  I have no idea how the others came on after him, he was without a shred of doubt the star of the show.

Next up was Kate Ceberano, she was on the bill last year (each year someone hangs over a year to steer the ship so to speak). I do love Kate’s voice but can take or leave her pop stuff. The first half of her session was that {Brave, Pash, Bedroom Eyes, Let Me In} but then she moved to the keyboards and did a stirring rendition of First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. This sort of ballad, along with blues and jazz it what suits her voice best. She followed that up with Songbird, I Don’t Know How to Love Him, Help and had the audience in raptures.

 

After intermission Daryl Braithwaite came on, now I grew up with Sherbet, Dad was a huge fan, so I knew all of those songs, but I can really take or leave his solo stuff, especially that awful Horses song. I know it was a great Ricki Lee Jones song, but he just spoiled it. Anyway, his set list was as follows; Rise, Something about the blues, some new crap song, Days Go By, One Summer, Horses. So yeah, I was less than impressed, but the thing is he does have a good voice and he wasn’t even cutting it with that. That lovely falsetto was sometimes there and sometimes not.

Jon Stevens rounded out the four and rocked us all home. I saw Noiseworks many times back in the day and they were always a great loud rock band. He hadn’t changed much, in voice and in looks. Still a rock god. Dad did say that he could tell that he had a good voice but why did he yell so much, and I do tend to agree. He did knock Never Tear Us Apart out of the ballpark in the middle of his set, reminding us he toured with INXS for some years. INXS is the one band I have never seen and that is my favourite song of theirs, and it was unexpected so I admit to shedding a tear or two during it. His set was Take Me Back, No Lies, Woman, New Tear Us Apart, Hot Chili Woman, Reach Out.

 

After a short break Kate Ceberano came back on stage singing Everything’s Alright  from Jesus Christ Superstar. Her voice was born to sing this song, Jon Stevens joined her to reprise his role, and JPY and Braithwaite shared Farnham’s role. To say this was outstanding would be an understatement.  After that they all sang Howzat followed by Love Is In The Air much to the audience’s delight. Both sounded fabulous.

The finale was a joyous and raucous version of Good Times by The Easybeats and we really didn’t want it to end.  Days later I still have Down Among The Dead Men and Everything’s Alright going through the jukebox in my head. They were the highlights for me. And I eagerly await 2017s tour.

 

MAY ROUND UP

May moved fast, almost half the year has gone.

I was busy as usual, but had a slower paced social calendar which gave me more time to catch up on reading and viewing.

I've had a bad foot (which in turn threw my entire right side out of whack) and this made getting out and about to walk or exercise a little difficult, but I started seeing an Osteopath and that really helped. I also decided mid month to get a new car before the rego on my old one ran out, so that took some time and organisation for the delivery mid June.

Work has been busy with training, projects, and Library and Information Week where we had schools visit for stories and raised money for the Cancer Council with the Biggest Morning Tea. And we entertained the oldies with Brokeback Mountain at our After Hours Movie Night, and they loved it. And it goes without saying we celebrated May The Fourth.

The month started with the new Carl Caulfield play, Where Late The Songbird, a dramedy about the life of Shakespeare upon his retirement, and dealing with family and life away from the theatre. It was well acted and an interesting premise, but could have been a bit more evenly distributed with comedy and drama, as the words really shone when witty. The play was preceded by the most amazing lamb risotto at The Clarendon, and the company of M.

C, E and I headed to the Civic for the second year running to see the APIA concert. This time Joe Camilleri, Kate Ceberano, Brian Cadd, and Glenn Shorack. I've seen Camilleri many times and he was good as always. Ceberano was lovely but should definitely stick to the jazz/blues side of her repertoire rather than the pop, as it suits her voice better. Cadd was surprisingly good, but it was Shorack I was there to see, and he was outstanding. A consummate performer, he treated us to a range of Little River Band songs and I went away smiling. We also had a lovely meal at The Clarendon prior.

I watched my niece and nephew play soccer, went to the markets, caught the Oils Exhibit at the Newcastle Museum, Art Bazaar at LMAG, celebrated P's 40th, had lunch at MoneyPenny, SoulFoods, Cazador, Caves Beach Hotel, and Awaba House. I also did back to back morning teas with C and T at Qs Cafe and Caves Beach Hotel on a rainy Friday morning.

I saw When We Were Young and A Chance Encounter (as part of the French Film Festival) at the movies.

When We Were Young was the latest film by Noah Baumbach. About an older couple, Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts, who become friends with a young, hipster couple, Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried. It was an amusing look at lifestyle today, young versus old, hipsters, and keeping things fresh. As both Stiller and Driver were documentary film makers, the underlying theme was truth verus reality, and it was all fascinating to watch and see unravel on screen. Baumbach always nails people, and as usual he was on the money. All performances, especially Stiller who I find shines in these melancholy roles, were great. This is a fun film, but it will also make you think. Which, to me, is the perfect combination.

A Chance Encounter (also called Quantum Love) starred the fabulous Sophie Marceau and the debonair Francois Cluzet. The film was very interesting, and had you squirming as the married Pierre keeps running into the single Elsa, and they have quite the chemistry. But will they disturb their lives and go for it...or not. The film keeps you guessing and was incredibly clever with a killer soundtrack! It's difficult to say more without giving away what happens, but it's a very French film and worth seeing.

The highlight of the month was seeing Daniel Johns at the Opera House with A, L, and K. It was crazy driving into Sydney but we got to see a bit of Vivid before hitting the Deep Purple Pool Bar, a pop-up bar at the back of the Opera Bar. But it was Daniel we were there to see and when we found out we had scored fourth row seats we were pretty excited. Daniel and his amazing band arrived on stage behind a mesh screen to much fanfare. Most of the songs were from his new album which I love and it's clear (to me) he has been inspired, at times, by Prince. He also did a few Silverchair songs but it's also clear he's very keen to leave that image behind.

The mesh screen dropped in the middle of the second song which was a relief. Knowing how shy he can be I was a little worried we would have to endure it the whole concert. And what I loved the most was how relaxed and pumped he was to be on that stage delivering to us who he really is...it was a joyous thing to behold and he really is the consumate performer. He talked to the crowd and sung directly to us in such a way, you felt appreciated and loved by him. I wouldn't have called myself a fan before but i think i might now. He played guitar, various electronic machines, and a theremin. And the final song of the night was an amazingly haunting yet rocking version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow!!

I also popped up a couple of stories on ABC Open for the subject of Grandparents, one on my maternal grandparents and one on my paternal grandparents.

And some pics for the month.

CONCERT: APIA Good Times Tour with Russell Morris, Joe Camilleri, Richard Clapton, and Leo Sayer

A couple of weeks ago I headed to the beautiful Civic Theatre with C and E to see the APIA Good Times Tour.

 

This was an amazing concert with Russell Morris, Joe Camilleri, Richard Clapton, and Leo Sayer.

 

I've been a fan of all of them for some time, but never seen Clapton and Sayer, so was thrilled to attend. Each played about 5-6 songs in separate sets before joining forces for a rocking encore.

 

Morris was first off. I have loved Morris since I can remember, and saw him close to 20 years ago at a local club. He was brilliant, he had been through the ringer and was trying to make a comeback of sorts. Since then he has gone from strength to strength and this superb short set was testament to that. He began with 3 songs off his new blues album, Sharkmouth, which I love. Then he moved into Wings of an Eagle, a stunning, soaring song which showcases the most stunning voice. Next up was The Real Thing, a song so meticulously produced you wonder how it could be replicated on stage and yet if you closed your eyes (as I did) you could be hearing it for the first time on radio way back then. He ended with my personal favourite, Sweet Sweet Love. There are no words for how much I adore this stunning ballad/rock tune and his delivery was perfection. I was in heaven, and he looked like he was too.

Next up was the ever sunny Joe Camilleri. He played a couple of Black Sorrows songs and a few from his new album. Just as I was thinking to myself, this is good, but the songs from the Black Sorrows really need the Bull Sisters, out comes Vika Bull to sing, Never Let Me Go and she blew the roof off. What a magnificent voice she has, and her heart placed firmly outside her body, somewhere between the flower in her hair and the smile on her face - both gigantic! This upped the ante for Joe and what a performance from them both, ending with Chained to the Wheel.

After an intermission, Richard Clapton came out for his set. I somehow keep missing Clapton, how I have no idea as he tours prolifically. He was exactly as I imagined, shortish, jeans, black jeans, those black sunnies, and that wild hair, a no shit attitude and his voice sounding as if he had just cut the record yesterday...timeless is Richard! His set was hit after hit including Deep Water, Girls on the Avenue, Capricorn Dancer and Lucky Country. He was effortlessly cool, with a teeny wink of irony and sounded great.

Seemingly the wild card entry, Leo Sayer was next. I have to say I was most excited about Leo, a huge fan from way back, I could not wait to see if that cute/daggy pop I listened to as a kid could be replicated. And mostly it was, I felt his higher notes were a little shakey at times, but men's voices get richer with age, so that is forgiven. My main issue with Leo was the schtick, there was too much piss farting around between songs, cut that out and we could have had another song. Having said that I had the hugest smile on my face when he was singing. Some of the hits churned out in his set where More Than I Can Say, When I Need You, Dreamin' (he wrote this with Cliff Richard), Thunder in my Heart, and my personal favourite Long Tall Glasses. God I love that song!

Then he was joined on stage by Camilleri, Morris, and Clapton for You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, seeing Clapton singing back up for this was one of the great joys of my life. Then Morris took the lead vocals for Hush, Camilleri for Shape I'm In, and Clapton for I Am An Island (another favourite). Vika Bull joined their superb backing band as backing vocalist for this encore which ended with a crazy rendition of Good Times. And good times it was, the show had gone on for close to 3 hours and we didn't want it to end.