The Wonderland Spiegeltent is located at Harbour Town Docklands, Melbourne, with a range of shows and activities including Santa’s Spectacular Circus from 15th of November to 24th of December and The Absolutely 80’s show featuring Scott Carne (Kids in the Kitchen), Brian Mannix (Uncanny X Men) and Dale Ryder (Boom Crash Opera) this Friday November 14th at 8.30pm. I recently spoke to Scott Carne about the Absolutely 80’s show.
“We do roughly a two hour show. We play our hits and some of our back catalogue, some surprise songs and a couple of all in brawls, a few covers; looking forward to playing the tent. It will be fantastic.” Dale, Brian and Scott are the main members of the Absolutely 80’s show with other 80’s icons added to the show at various times. Scott described the three of them as a well-oiled machine with a really good rapport. The audiences love the show too. “Some people get in the real spirit of it. They let their hair down and enjoy the whole process of reliving the past and stepping back into a time bubble.” Scott said the crowd is basically those aged in the mid 30’s upwards who are mainly their own fans or those that were under age at the time so couldn’t get out and see them in the pubs.
The show is a celebration of the hits of Kids in the Kitchen, Boom Crash Opera and Uncanny X Men. “80% of the show is our original music and we take pride in making it sound like the original recordings. We do a pretty good job of it.” The covers they do are mainly Australian hits from INXS to Dragon to Models but occasionally they will include an overseas hit that is typical of the 80’s, for instance a Depeche Mode song.
Scott has previously played in the Spiegeltent with his big band show, the 80’s Brat Pack. He enjoyed playing in the tent and is looking forward to this one which he believes is slightly bigger. “They’re fantastic fun.” Playing in the Spiegeltent, he assures me, shouldn’t be too different to playing in the pubs when it comes to song choices but the way they deliver the show may be a bit different and as for the feel, well, “It will be very intimate.”
The Absolutely 80’s show was inspired by the Countdown Spectacular Concerts of a few years back. Given that this year is the 40th birthday of Countdown, I asked Scott if they will make a special tribute to Countdown in Friday night’s show. “Brian always mentions it, but we haven’t planned anything specific. Brian or I will probably make some mention. I do mention Molly occasionally when I sing one of my songs, ‘Something You Said’, that he produced.” Scott has recently had a glance through Molly Meldrum’s new book and concluded it looks like a good read. “There are a couple of references I made, which is good to see. It looks like a lot of fun to read. I’m glad he got the book out.”
The guys have recently released a double CD called ‘Then and Now’. CD A is the ‘then’ component with 18 original recordings and masters from Scott, Dale and Brian as well as others that have played with them in the past including Paul Norton, Paul Gray (Wa Wa Nee) and Sean Kelly (Models). CD B is the ‘now’ component which is a live recording from a show they performed last year in Sydney, featuring Brian, Scott, Dale and Paul Gray. The album includes a booklet with some information and old and new photos. The booklet however is not available with the digital purchase. Scott told me the album is selling well. “It’s different selling a record these days. It is in JB Hi Fi but it’s also online at iTunes and on our ebay store.” Scott advises that purchasing it through their ebay store,absolutely80spresents, is probably the best way to go. He explained that not all JB Hi Fi stores are stocking it, though they will take orders. The bonus of purchasing it via the ebay store is you will receive a signed copy. The guys will also be selling and signing copies at the Spiegletent on Friday night.
I personally saw the show a few years ago and can guarantee it is a good night out. As Scott said to me “The 80’s is still doing it. You listen to the radio now and with a lot of the new music on JJJ you can hear loads of 80’s in there. They’re inspired by the past as well.”
by Suzanne Bunker
Copyright © Suzanne Bunker 2014. All rights reserved
To buy the double CD ‘Then and Now’, click here
or go to the Absolutely80spresents Facebook page.
To buy tickets for Friday night’s show, go to here
For more information on the Absolutely 80’s show, go to here
