A Day On The Green @ Peter Lehmann Wines, Tanunda SA 7/4/2024
As the AFL Gather Round winds up in Adelaide, a musical gathering was building at Peter Lehmann Wines for Chris Isaak, Boy & Bear, Mark Seymour & The Undertow and Vika & Linda Bull in concert. This was to be the 526th Day on The Green show in Australia and let’s hope there will be many more to come.
Everyone’s favourite backing singers, Vika & Linda walked on stage in stunning white outfits with the beautiful Barossa Valley as the backdrop. The band were dressed in the obligatory Rock n Roll all black attire. Today the girls get to shine in their own right, at the front of the stage, not twenty feet away.
Opening with On my Way and Be Careful What You Pray For, they had the audience in their hands from the beginning. By the time they got to Raise your Hand the audience needed no encouragement to do just that. The beauty of A Day on The Green is that the support artists get extra time to strut their stuff, so we were introduced to The Passing Song, a tune their father is not happy with them performing as it entails his final wishes. They rocked out to Rabbit Hole to close out an extremely polished performance
Mark Seymour needs no introduction as the Hunters and Collectors singer made his way on stage with his band, The Undertow. Again, the whole band was dressed in Rock N Roll black. Mark advised the crowd “tonight there will be songs from a long time ago and songs from the latest album, like this one The Boxer”. True to his word, “the old Biblical tune”, Holy Grail rolled out next. A stripped back but still beautiful version.
The songs played highlighted travelling around Australia. Beautiful sunsets in Cherry Red, the bridge disaster that was Westgate, travelling New Zealand in the 80’s with Joanna and the “Melbourne song” The Dogs of Williamstown. Of course, The Hunters were not forgotten with Throw Your Arms Around Me (subdued but effective) and Do You See What I See rocking out the set.
Boy & Bear have been labelled “indie folk” in some places and been pounding the boards since 2009 and their professionalism showed in the performance. This was my first look at the band and while there was some “indie folk” in the music, I found it hard to label them at all, which is a great thing. They play “their” own music.
Being new to the band I was put at ease when drummer Tim Hart told the audience “We are playing some new stuff and some old stuff, however it might not mean anything to those who haven’t seen us before. It will be all new stuff”. Yes, that is me. However, they did play “old stuff” in Feeding Line and Part Time Believer, from their first 2011 album and “new stuff” Strange World and State of Flight from the latest album.
The band usually do a cover of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Games but tonight “we will let Chris do that one” so we got some Crowded House in Fall at Your Feet with some Neil Young mixed in together. Southern Sun closed out the set.
Chris Isaak arrived on stage in a blue sparkling suit with his band, naturally, all in black suits. American Boy kicked off proceedings and Somebody’s Crying followed. “Thank you for all coming out and supporting live music” Chris said “without you here this band would be in the streets doing graffiti”. An impromptu “Wine wine, wine, pass the bottle” was sung with Chris commenting “we can do this as we are just a semi-professional band, not like Taylor Swift”.
For Here I Stand Chris headed into the audience, singing and having selfies taken. At the end of the song, he said “Thank you all for coming and drive safely.” But the band started up Don’t Leave Me on My Own and Chris sang his way back to the stage.
Chris and band, The Silvertones have been together for nearly forty years and it shows. They are tight unit, even when having fun on stage, and that is what the first third of the show was, fun. Banter between members and dance moves reminiscent of The Shadows all came to the fore.
But the band can play seriously when needed, as after Wicked Games, Chris asked everyone to stand for the rock and roll segment, the band just played song after song with Go Walking Down There, Speak of the Devil, One Day and Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman all rolling out straight after each other.
Stools came out, a small drum kit placed at the front of the stage and the band got together for a small “quieter” set which started with the melancholic Forever Blue. The angst continued with Two Hearts, another Roy Orbison (“who we supported once. A really nice guy”) song in Only the Lonely, Let Me Down Easy and a cover of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love, preceded with Chris telling us to hold our partners and tell them you love them as “life is short”.
Back to “normal” stage mode for Blue Hotel and a rocking Notice the Ring. The band left the stage, returning quickly with Chris wearing a disco, mirror suit and playing Big Wide Wonderful World and San Francisco Days. A rolling loud drum intro caught the phoners unaware, as the song turned into the rumbling bass lines of Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing. Some girls were invited to join Chris up on stage to dance with him during the song.
Can’t Do a Thing and The Way Things Really Are finished the evening and showed that Chris, despite being in his late 60’s, still has a lot to offer. He may have said near the end, “If you see Taylor Swift, everything is organised. We are disorganised”. Chris Isaak and band maybe just a self-professed “semi-professional” band, but I know which act I would prefer to see.
Live Review By Geoff Jenke