Tonight a packed Astor theatre saw Jon Stevens take us on a musical journey through what is only just part of his legacy, but arguably the most conspicuous – the music of INXS and Noiseworks – two of Australia’s most iconic bands.
So with both back catalogues jam-packed with hits, and no shortage of great songs to choose from, how do you open? The answer is with a bang! Starting off with a dark stage and keys as the band takes their places all of a sudden we’re into ‘Suicide Blonde’ and the party that wont end till the very last note of the final encore has started.
‘How you doing Perth?’ Jon asks us, although you suspect that he already know, Perth might be OK but inside the venerable and acoustically wonderful Astor Theatre we are doing rather more than that.
The power of Steven’s voice is legendary and on ‘Touch’ you understand why he hits notes those half his age would struggle with, and after imploring “C’mon Perth” the band, who are sublime all night, revel in the feedback from the dancing throng as they move under red and blue spots, the entire crowd singing, all clapping and all of course ‘reaching out’ for Jon as he grasps a hundred sets of outstretched hands before the song is through.
“Don’t be shy were here for a good time” is all the room needs to make a mass exodus to dance in front of the stage as ‘New Sensation’ fills the air the first two rows are swamped by the new arrivals and the whole crowd is jumping.
And the show retains that relentless pace throughout: ‘No Lies’ draws a huge cheers and staying with Noiseworks, we get the first track from their debut ‘Love Somebody which sees an extended solo by, as Jon tells us, ‘the youngest member of the band’ Sammy Vee’.
The rest of the band is similarly inspiring with some wonderful sax in ‘Original Sin’ and ‘Voice of Reason sees Jon join in with an acoustic guitar to create a wonderful ‘wall of sound’ with the band before a slight chance to catch breath comes with the sublime ‘Never tear us apart’, and song that has the woman to my right weeping.
‘Disappear’ comes with a stamp of approval from the man himself Andrew Farriss (who we recently interviewed on The Rockpit) who told Jon “We don’t play them any more you’re the only man who can do them justice.” It doesn’t come more highly recommended than that, and Andrew of course is absolutely right, Jon brings something different to the music than Michael but it’s undistributedly INXS and when you hear ‘Devil Inside’ you can’t help feel it’s a vocal that does more than most capture the spirit of Hutchence.
Tonight we get a few anecdotes from the stage too, proof our all our moralities comes as Jon recalls his ‘double heart surgery’ operation and his visit to the doctors last year. 2019, as a result, sees him “trying to take care of myself”
“This is a song I did at 2000 Olympics” he tells us before the band break into ‘What you Need’ and it makes you wonder ‘wow, was it really that long ago?’ The crowd, who must be 60-70% female respond by dancing up a storm and don’t stop for a second as ‘Need you Tonight’ intercedes, replete with intros to the wonderful rhythm section with fantastic bass lines and the rather tasty drums of Johnny Salerno. We also get a snatch of The Stones ‘Miss You’ from the man at the back who orchestrates it all – Tony Kopa.
The rest of the night and the final few songs are a blur- from the wonderful sight of the entire room’s hands in the air for ‘Don’t Change’ – at which point you feel we are all in full ‘party mode’ and Jon thanks everyone for making it out. ‘Take Me Back’ that follows I would even say gets the biggest response of the night though in truth it’s been hard to tell which song has been voluminously received. One things for sure, there are screams,plenty of screams! “Astor you’re drunk!” Jon accuses us all before signing out with “Peace, you’ve been awesome.”
An encore of ‘Guns in the Sky’, ‘Kick’ and Noiseworks party rocker ‘Hot Chilli Woman’ really is just showing off. It’s so easy to see how this show has been selling out all across the country and people of Western Australia really you do not want to miss this whether you’re in Albany, Esperance, Kalgoorlie or Bunbury (or the wonderful Ravenswood where we’ve had many a fine night), it a show not to be missed!
Opening tonight was a name to look out for – a young lad from Victoria called Taylor Sheridan – who armed only with a guitar and a fine selection of songs, centering on our common ground of ‘home and family,’ engaged the crowd for thirty minutes. Now that’s no mean feat and even if his self-confessed claim to fame is sitting at number 3 in the I-tunes charts for a few seconds you feel there’s a bright future ahead of him. ‘In and Out of Love’ (?) is a great song and a little ‘looping experiment on a great cover of ‘Ain’t no Sunshine really had the Astor audience take a shine to him.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Sharon Burgess Photography
CATCH THE REST OF JON’S TOUR AT A VENUE NEAR YOU
Tuesday 20th August 2019
Albany Entertainment Centre, ALBANY WA
www.ptt.wa.gov.au
*** The Hits Tour ***
Wednesday 21st August 2019
Esperance Civic Centre, ESPERANCE WA
www.esperance.wa.gov.au
*** The Hits Tour ***
Thursday 22nd August 2019
Albion Hotel, KALGOORLIE WA
www.albionshamrock.com.au
*** The Hits Tour ***
Friday 23rd August 2019
Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, BUNBURY WA
www.bunburyentertainment.com
*** The Hits Tour ***
Saturday 24th August 2019
Ravenswood Hotel, RAVENSWOOD WA
www.ravenswoodhotel.com.au
*** The Hits Tour ***
Friday 30th August 2019
Miami Marketta, MIAMI QLD
www.miamiarketta.com
Saturday 31st August 2019
Kingscliff Beach Hotel, KINGSCLIFF NSW
www.kingscliffbeachhotel.com.au
Sunday 1st September 2019
The Hoey Moey, COFFS HARBOUR NSW
www.hoeymoey.com.au
Thursday 5th September 2019
Tanks Arts Centre, CAIRNS QLD
www.tanksartscentre.com
Friday 6th September 2019
Dalrymple Hotel, TOWNSVILLE QLD
www.dalrymplehotel.com.au
Saturday 7th September 2019
4U2 Concert, MORANBAH QLD
www.hornerygroup.com.au/4uloc-and-4u2-concert/4u2-concert/
Thursday 12th September 2019
Macquarie Inn, DUBBO NSW
www.macquarieinn.com.au
Friday 13th September 2019
Blue Cattle Dog Hotel, ST CLAIR NSW
www.bluecattledoghotel.com.au
Sunday 15th September 2019
Belmont 16s Sailing Club, BELMONT NSW
www.16s.com.au
Thursday 19th September 2019
Bay Central Tavern, PIALBA QLD
www.baycentraltavern.com.au
Friday 20th September 2019
Harvey Road Tavern, CLINTON QLD
www.harveyroadtavern.com.au
Saturday 21st September 2019
Great Western Hotel, ROCKHAMPTON QLD
www.greatwesternhotel.com.au
Friday 4th October 2019
The Triffid, FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD
www.thetriffid.com.au
Saturday 5th October 2019
The V Room, Villa Noosa, NOOSA QLD
www.villanoosa.com.au
Sunday 6th October 2019
Redland Bay Hotel, REDLAND BAY QLD
www.redlandbayhotel.com.au
Friday 11th October 2019
Commercial Hotel, SOUTH MORANG VIC
www.commercialsouthmorang.com.au
Saturday 12th October 2019
Village Green Hotel, MULGRAVE VIC
www.thevillagegreen.com.au
Sunday 13th October 2019
Memo Music Hall, ST KILDA VIC
www.memomusichall.com.au
Friday 18th October 2019
Wangaratta Performing Arts & Convention Centre, WANGARATTA VIC
www.wangarattapac.com.au
Saturday 19th October 2019
On The Wing EagleHawk Community Festival, BENDIGO VIC
www.onthewingfestival.com
Thursday 19th December 2019
West Gippsland Arts Centre, WARRAGUL VIC
www.wgac.com.au
Friday 20th December 2019
The Palms at Crown, MELBOURNE VIC
www.crownmelbourne.com.au | www.ticketmaster.com.au
Saturday 21st December 2019
Frankston Arts Centre, FRANKSTON VIC
www.artscentre.frankston.vic.gov.au
For more information, please visit www.jonstevens.com
