Civic Theatre, Newcastle
Saturday May 18, 2013 :
A packed Civic Theatre in Newcastle witnessed Australian music royalty on Saturday night. It was Newcastle’s turn to see the “Time of my life” concert, and the time of our life we had.
Ross Wilson kicked off the evening with an eclectic mix of the very old Daddy Cool, through Mondo Rock and into his own solo work. Ross Wilson never ceases to amaze, even while clicking over his 49th year in the music industry. Wilson’s set included ‘Hi Honey Ho’, ‘Bed of Roses’ and the Mondo Rock classics, ‘Cool World” and ‘Come Said the Boy’. Wilson thanked the crowd and acknowledged his own musical achievements mentioning his 43 freaking years in the music industry. Doing the maths Ross you are six years out but we can forgive you for that.
Joe Camilleri promptly joined the stage and delivered a six song set that included the Jo Jo Zep classic, ‘Hit and Run’. This was a song Camilleri openly admitted to the audience, “I wrote that song over 40 years ago and I still don’t know what it is about.” Black Sorrows favourites, ‘Chained to the Wheel’ and ‘Harley and Rose’ followed and Camilleri was in fine form. Camilleri proved what a master musician he is, looking comfortable on electric and acoustic guitars, and his customary saxophone.
Following a well-earned break for both the audience and the artists, James Reyne joined the stage with a powerful electric version of ‘Fall of Rome’. Reyne then turned his set into a best of his solo work with ‘Hammerhead’, and ‘Motors Too Fast’. A brief transformation followed when Reyne introduced some timeless Australian Crawl with ‘Errol’, ‘Reckless’ and ‘The Boys Light Up’. I couldn’t help but reminisce of the last time I had seen Australian Crawl – it was 1982 at the very same Civic Theatre. The acoustic version of ‘Reckless’ was particularly chilling, highlighting Reyne’s voice.
Enter Daryl Braithwaite with an over the top version of ‘As The Days Go By’. From the time he took the stage, the audience was mesmerised at the power of Braithwaite’s voice. At 64 years of age, you could argue the very best is behind him, but going on tonight’s performance nothing could be further from the truth. Braithwaite reminisced about his visit to the Civic Theatre in 1974 and promptly broke into the Sherbet number, ‘Life’. From that moment it was an eclectic journey of Braithwaite’s career, ‘The Horses’ mixed up with Sherbet’s ‘Summer Love’. Leaving the stage with the audience standing and shouting, Braithwaite was nothing short of fantastic.
For an encore, the four artists combined together for a memorable finale. Each artist taking turns to sing a number one song. Reyne’s ‘Oh No, Not You Again’ was great, Braithwaite’s ‘Howzat’ hit the mark, closely followed by Camilleri’s ‘Shape I’m In’. Ross Wilson finished the night with ‘Eagle Rock’ leaving the crowd standing and wanting more. On their return to the stage, the awesome foursome combined together to bring it home with the Divinyls classic, ‘Boys in Town’. Overall this show was an absolute pleasure with many highlights. Between them, these guys have over 30 number one hits, AIRIA Hall of Fame honours and let’s not forget, the King of Pop. A night definitely worth going to.
Reviewer and Photographer: David Jackson
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