Photo: © ANGIE PATON 2018
Nothing gets the blood pumping like a night of live music and when you have a smorgasbord of some of the country’s finest artists to thrill the senses, all in one place, one after the other, it’s a huge adrenalin rush.
Pure Gold Live offers up such a musical banquet every year and Melbourne’s iconic Palais Theatre is the perfect venue to showcase this amazing array of talent.
Saturday night’s concert was yet another brilliant show bringing the cream of Australian rock and pop together in a star-studded music extravaganza, hosted by GOLD104.3’s Gavin Miller and Craig Huggins.
Paul Norton got things started with his hit ‘Stuck On You’ and, from then on, we were treated to hit after hit from a revolving door of talent, each serving up the songs that made them household names in the 70s, 80s and 90s and, as cliched as it is, formed the soundtracks of our lives. (Yes, it’s a cliché but it’s true!)
For the rest of the night, we were transported back to those magical days of our youth with performances from Billy Miller, Stephen Cummings, Stars with their classic songs ‘Look After Yourself’ and ‘The Mighty Rock’ and Sean Kelly had the punters dancing with Models’ hits ‘I Hear Motion’ and ‘Out of Mind, Out of Sight’.
We heard hits from Steve Kilbey, Deborah Conway and The Chantoozies. But it wasn’t just the 70s and 80s that were represented in this show. 90s band Chocolate Starfish left everyone in awe with their performance of their hits ‘Mountain’ and ‘You’re So Vain’ with their always entertaining and theatrical front man, Adam Thompson dressed in a red kilt (that he kindly lifted for the benefit of those close enough to get a glimpse of what was underneath) and a delightfully bright combination of rainbow socks and gold shoes. Adam hammed it up for the crowd and I daresay Chocolate Starfish found a whole new fanbase that night.
The Pure Gold house band, as always, were in fine form, providing top notch backing for the artists throughout the night. Robyn Lau had her moment to shine with her angelic backing vocals on David Sterry’s Real Life hit, the ethereal ‘Send Me an Angel’ which is always a favourite.
Recently reformed 80s bands Kids in the Kitchen wowed the fans with their hits ‘Current Stand’ and ‘Change in Mood’ and The Uncanny X-Men with the eternally irreverent Brian Mannix out front, finished off the first set with ‘Everybody Wants to Work’ and ‘Fifty Years’.
Joe Dolce still gets the laughs and has everyone singing along with his little ditty from the early 80s, ‘Shaddup You Face’.
A highly anticipated performance by Australia’s original glam rock band from the 70s, Hush, was a highlight of the evening and saw singer Keith Lamb, guitarist Les Gock, bass player Rick Lum and drummer Chris Pailthorpe reunited for the first time in over a decade for this one-off show and they proved that they can still rock with the best of them. Their 3-song set kicked off with ‘Get Rocked’ and the whole room was on their feet for ‘Glad All Over’ and ‘Boney Maronie’.
Eurogliders kept the mood high and the people dancing with their 80s hits ‘We Will Together’ and ‘Heaven’.
The final act of the night was 90s band, Pseudo Echo and let me tell you, they rocked! The Pseuds were on fire, blazing through their 3-song set with ‘A Beat for You’, ‘Listening’ and inviting audience participation (which they had plenty of!) as they topped it all off with an extended version of their big hit, the fan favourite ‘Funky Town’ and I would be surprised if there were any bums still on seats.
The night could have ended right there but, of course, there was more to come. The encore was a special tribute to INXS and in particular to the memory of their late lead singer, Michael Hutchence with return appearances from some of the artists that had already entertained us throughout the night. Adam Thompson made his presence felt yet again with ‘New Sensation’, Deborah Conway gave a stirring rendition of ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ and, for a special treat, the finale featured a rousing version of ‘Don’t Change’ from Sean Kelly, Brian Mannix, Scott Carne and The Chantoozies. What a way to wrap up an incredible night of entertainment that had something for everyone!
by Sharyn Hamey
Copyright © Sharyn Hamey 2018. All rights reserved
Photos: © ANGIE PATON 2018
