American Utopia Tour
by David Byrne, Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, 21 November 2018
Barefoot and brilliant, Byrne presents new songs and reworked Talking Heads classics in an energetically choreographed fusion of Brazilian beats and industrial sensibility. Complex, layered rhythms meet vocal resplendence. Virtuoso musicians in motion! Top three songs: ‘Lazy’; ‘Born Under Punches’; ‘I Zimbra’.
Roger Waters live at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre
(Us + Them Tour, 7 February 2018)
Roger Waters, not quite evergreen but certainly everpink and still a powerful presence, headed an audio-visual rock extravaganza showcasing songs from 1971 through to 2017. Highlights included a fervid repurposing of ‘Pigs (Three Different Ones)’ into a 10-minute denouncement of Donald Trump.
Ben Folds live at the Tivoli
(Paper Aeroplane Request Tour, 4 February 2018)
Ben Folds rocked the Tivoli sans new material but with irrepressible improvisation and a 25-year back catalogue. Highlights included the spontaneous ‘Mosh Pit’, a wild switch from piano to drums, and the crowd nailing Regina Spektor’s part in ‘You Don’t Know Me’.
Loose Ends
developed and performed by Jens Altheimer (Ipswich Art Gallery, 18 September – 1 October 2017)
A mad-quirky inventor moves out of his comfort zone in search of friendship. Altheimer’s one-man show is an exquisitely timed master class in non-verbal communication. Fun-loving and imaginative to the delight of small children, executed with the panache to keep adults bedazzled.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Live at the Almeida Theater, London, 1995
by Douglas Adams (Phoenix Books, 2008)
The greater part of this reading (or more accurately, performance) comes in the form of two long excerpts from Life, the Universe and Everything. Suddenly that which seems facetious on the page springs to life and we hear what Adams himself intended.
Stephen Fry Live at the Sydney Opera House
(ABC, 2010)
Even while speaking more or less off the cuff, Stephen Fry remains engaging; yet precious few of the stories told at this performance won’t already be familiar to those who have read his three autobiographies (of which only one postdates the DVD).
Tony Martin Live
(Brisbane Arts Theatre, 14 February 2016)
Tony Martin’s stand-up comedy is nuanced rather than contrived, exposing the daily absurdities of modern society in a brilliantly timed blend of understatement, disbelief, outrage and sangfroid. Martin comes across as the audience’s preternaturally funny best friend: affable, insightful, on-form and uproarious.
The Soul Men Blues Brothers Tribute
Performance at the Grandview Hotel, Cleveland, 15 November 2015
Strong vocals (both male and female); excellent musicianship; joyful, energetic, iconic: the Soul Men Blues Brothers Tribute brings real justice to our favourite musical recidivists, unlocking the briefcase full of [mostly rhythm and] blues and delving deep into Jake and Elwood’s repertoire.