Sydney Opera House
Saturday May 11, 2013 :
An elegant, architectural work of genius; a place of culture and Australian heritage. With great ballets and opera, poetry readings and political addresses, it holds a place as one of Australia’s most famous cultural hotspots. Tourists travel from near and far to experience the elegance, to be educated in high culture and excellence.
Upon my discovery that Tenacious D – yes Jack Black and his “brother of rock” Kyle Gass were playing this historic, beautiful venue, I was taken aback. How could this be? Described as a show that the Sydney Opera House ain’t seen nothing like, the movie star and his balding rocker friend truly delivered a magnificently crafted, theatrical comic rock show to be remembered.
Arriving in time for the support act, Sasquatch, I was shocked and elated all at once to see a giant mass of hair and fur; was it a man or a creature forgotten? It was hard to say but the Sasquatch delivered as he shredded the electric guitar and beat the drum at the same time – he played a style that I can only describe as old skool rock meets hillbilly, and well it actually sounded damn good! He ran around the stage and held the audience captive with his utterly unique sense of showmanship before taking a bow and mumbling something about “thanks Tenacious D.”
The crowd, which allowed for a mass of excess facial hair, piercings and even some flannelette shirts embraced the show wholeheartedly, roaring in applause as the main act made its way to the stage. As “the D” walked out, Jack Black (the movie star) wore a grey t-shirt that was way too big for him and a pair of worn pants while Kyle Gass rocked a faded orange t-shirt and shorts.
Remembering at this point we are at the Sydney Opera House… Jokes and crowd interaction, multiple sing-along moments and complete theatrics – the show was a lot of fun. It was fantastic to watch the guys interact and share their talent with the crowd. It blew me away at points just how “actually” talented these guys were. With guitar battles, a strangely appealing storyline and multiple “random” appearances from the Sasquatch this was definitely a show unlike anything I had seen.
Crowd favourites included the apologetic and utterly hilarious rendition of ‘Exultant Joy’ which started with an argument between the guys on stage that led to Kyle quitting the band, only to return after Jack belted out this apologetic tune to his “brother”. The cuss riddled ‘Roadie song’ was greeted with rapturous cheering and applause, while ‘The Ballad of Hollywood Jack’ payed homage to Jack’s success as a film star. When the guys played ‘Tribute’, the crowd absolutely erupted and sang their hearts out. This led to what JB likes to call a standing O – a standing ovation.
To finish the night off, JB and his boy Kyle, played their completely inappropriate love song, which JB announced was “for the ladies – we’re not singing it to the ladies – we’re singing it to the dudes on behest of the ladies”, called ‘F#@king you softly’ (not for the kids).
To sum it up the show was “something else”. It was completely unlike anything I have seen or heard before and absolutely worth a look – it is a fantastic fun show that caters for Tenacious D’s loyal fans (which made up a lot of the crowd) and offers a new legion of followers an utterly unique theatrical rock, comedy experience.
Reviewer: Mark Henderson
Photographer: Pearl Davies
