Concert Review: Melbourne, Australia - March 10, 1997
Patrick Laplagne:
I went to Chris' one and only Melbourne concert on his 'Beautiful Dreams' tour down under, on 10/3/97. It was the second time I'd seen him: the first time was back in 1983, in Paris (the 'Don't Pay the Ferryman' tour). Too long between drinks!
Chris appeared on time and, after the applause died down, went over to the piano and launched into 'Carry on' which segued into a song unknown to me (something about the 'book of time' or the 'book of life').
Here's a list of songs he performed, to the best of my recollection, and in no particular order:
Carry on + ?
Moonlight and vodka
Sailing away
Lonely night in Paris (a request from the audience, which had Chris
reaching for the 'red book' sent by a fan, which contains all the lyrics
he's ever written. Own up if you are that fan!)
Borderline
Missing you
Spanish train
Don't pay the ferryman
Transmission ends
Hey Jude
The lady in red
Rosanna
A spaceman came travelling
The simple truth
The snows of New York
Crying
The risen lord (?)
Lonely sky
The head and the heart
Where peaceful waters flow
I don't have my records in front of me, so some of the titles may be a bit approximative. Chris appeared to be in fine form and enjoying himself. He showed lots of energy, staying on stage for 2 and a half hours. His inter-song banter was very funny, like the bit about Eddie Irvine which I've already mentioned. He also launched into a hilarious impersonation of Elvis Presley, complete with forgotten lyrics and swivelling hips. He told a story about seeing a paparazzi fall from a tree right in front of him while on a safari in South Africa. And of meeting Boris Yeltsin (as an intro to 'Moonlight and vodka') and his, er, sizeable daughters. And of wondering what all the fuss was about about Pavarotti hitting the 'high C' notes: as we know, it's not a problem for Chris!
For about one hour in the middle of the show, he was accompanied by a string quartet (from Sydney) and a pianist. The rest of the time, he was by himself, playing guitar or piano. For my money, the solo bits were the best, and I was very impressed by his guitar playing, especially his sense of rythm.
He had his 'karaoke' interlude, which you're probably all familiar with. The first 'contestant' sang 'Borderline' and was *very* out of tune. Still, she had more guts than I would have had. The second one was known to Chris as he had heard her sing a few nights before at a Melbourne nightspot. She is a trained opera singer, and she and Chris gave a wonderful version of a Van Morrison tune called 'Rhonda'(?).
On many occasions, Chris had people singing along to his songs ('Spaceman..' of course) and clapping in time. At the end, people gave him a standing ovation which he accepted very graciously before making his final goodbye.
Well, what more can I say? It was a great concert, which makes me even more sorry not to see him more often. He said, however, that he would be back soon (I know, he probably ends all his shows that way!).
Bye for now, Patrick