John Farnham/Olivia Newton-John
Brisbane Entertainment Centre 14.04.2015
If you’ve seen a great show there’s always one particular moment that stays with you. This show had several. Before we start with the stars, it’s ‘hats off’ to Chong Lim the MD, and to some extent, the architect behind the night. Farnham and Newton-John were our seventies ‘King and Queen of Pop’. Farnham, after a fallow period, kept the hits coming while Olivia made Grease, had a few more hits, and settled into National Treasure status. Let’s face it, they’re both national treasures and, together on stage, they’ve got a helluva set list between them.
As the lights dipped, the silhouettes of the orchestra taking their seats appears on screen. The band are next and then John and Olivia. The curtain disappears and there’s a roar through what looks like a capacity house.
The orchestra and Farnham’s band kick into Two Strong Hearts. Both singers are high in the mix and the sound is superb. Let Me Be There is next. Farnham waves goodbye and Olivia leads the ensemble through a string of hits, Magic, Have You Never Been Mellow (with a shout out to writer John Farrar) and Xanadu. The latter is stunning. The on stage back drop beams with the lettering from the film, while Olivia hits the high tops atop a podium at the back of the stage. Magnificent.
Talking of songwriters, Olivia then singles out Peter Allen before singing I Honestly Love You. Farnham is back on stage as the pair lead the room through another Allen hit, Tenterfield Saddler. During the final choruses, both John and Olivia are on the big screen with archival footage of Allen seemingly singing along. See what I was saying about those moments that stay with you?
No one beats Farnham for great stage patter, let alone his powerhouse voice. Given his back catalogue, it’s odd that he plays No One Comes Close and Love Shine. His cover of ‘One’ would’ve have killed it: but it didn’t make an appearance, He did move it up a notch with Age Of Reason and Freedom. ONJ came back for Suddenly where Farnham sang Cliff Richard’s part. They closed the first half with Dare To Dream from Sydney 2000. Rather than take a quick bow and exit: they walked almost the full length of the floor through the crowd.
With interval out of way, the second half kicked off with Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Burn For You and Farnham’s jazz/blues blend of Hit The Road Jack and Fever. The set continued in a jazzy vein when Olivia sang Cry Me A River. Her hit from 1978, A Little More Love, was stunning and showcased that voice of hers that sounds as good now as it did when the record came out.
Putting on a leather jacket, Olivia delivered Hopelessly Devoted To You, before Farnham returned to sing Travolta’s parts on You’re The One That I Want and Summer Nights. What can you say? Joyous, nostalgic, funny (thanks to JF’s build up to the high notes) and downright brilliant.
With Farnham back front and centre, he ran through Reasons, Man Of The Hour, Pressure Down and a rousing Playing To Win. Together again, the pair started the final furlong with Two Hearts On Fire, If Not For You and Every Time You Cry. Physical had the capacity house pretty much on its feet. Olivia led us into a powerhouse You’re The Voice and that was almost … it.
Where can you go from there? The orchestra played a sucker punch of Beethoven’s Fifth and the band kicked into AC/DC’s Long Way To The Top. Farnham can still sing the legs of that track and it absolutely rocked. And that final magic moment? It was when Farnham threw the ‘stage and screen’ line to Olivia and she deadpanned, ‘its rough and its mean’.
Wow – what a night.
Sean Sennett
