Sunday, June 28, 2009

Old Friends - Simon and Garfunkel

Band: Simon and Garfunkel
Venue: Rod Laver Arena
Date: 26th June 2009
Reviewed By: Espylyn

Tonight Old Friends gather for a memorable evening of hit songs from the 70's and 80's. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel bring all their hits to a sold out show at Rod Laver and they do not disappoint. The two have been friends since school days and recorded their first record in 1957 and over the years have broken up a few times. In February 2009 Simon had Garfunkel appear as a special guest for an encore at Simon's show and a joint tour soon followed.
Tonight started with a quick video presentation of their life from school, to recording, to their hit songs then the video ended at Rod Laver Arena, a great capture of their life in the spotlight.
Hazy Shade of Winter was the first song of the night and I could feel the love in the arena for this duo. I am a Rock soon followed and their 10 piece band were on a roll tonight joining the duo performing song after song. Scaffolding which were placed in a tree formation hit the roof and the arms of the tree reached out over the stage - the scaffolding had lights and speakers attached to them and this look really suited the style of the performance tonight.
Scarborough Fair showed off more of their talented voices and Homeward Bound delivered an acoustic set from Simon. Old movies displayed throughout the show, showing good times and old times. Mrs Robinson was the crowd pleaser and Bright Eyes was delivered by Garfunkel with such beauty in his voice. Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes was a great song live and got many people up and dancing, followed by Bridge Over Troubled Water (Garfunkle wrote for Simon) which recieved a standing ovation. Encore followed by The Boxer and the night was ended on the song Cecilia. Introductions of all 10 band members and big thanks for coming tonight. I leave the venue knowing I've seen a bit of history.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Get Out of Billy's Dreams and into the Palais Theatre

Name of Band: Billy Ocean
Venue: Palais Theatre
Date: 12th June 2009
Reviewed By: Espylyn

There was a cancelled support for tonights show so it was a bit of a wait for those who came early, but it didn't matter as Billy Ocean and band were going to entertain us tonight and we were all ready to dance in our seats. A fantastic show from Billy Ocean (aka Leslie Sebastian Charles) and his 10 piece orchestra. Displaying gleaming white teeth, which almost stole the show, Billy showed the crowd that he really is a legend (at a mere 59 years of age) and it was the songs of the 1980's that hit hard with the crowd. His 1976 hit Love Really Hurts Without You was the show opener and songs Suddenly and There'll be Sad Songs got the mood high as we all knew the bigger hits were to follow. Get Out of My Dreams allowed youngies to leap from their seats with hands pumping like time had gone back into the 1980's, and the crowd fully expoded into these hits by singing each song word for word. Loverboy was a beauty and When The Going Gets Tough was sung the security had a hard time trying to get people back into their seats whilst the crowd leapt around.
Billy displayed plenty of moves and grooves, dressed in a suit for the evening. Long hair and a happy persona were displayed throughout. How this wasn't close to a sell out is odd. The Palais was over half packed tonight and I bet many people are screwing up their faces with dispair as they missed a top show from a man who was a big 80's hit in the pop charts and his best of albums are double platinum sellers that continue to sell today.
The night was ended with Caribbean Queen which again got the crowd leaping about. Billy put on a fantastic show and with his orchestra to boot, and we were treated to a great night out.