Roger Hodgson @ Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide 6/2/2019
It was an incredible performance last night by Roger Hodgson, the voice of Supertramp playing to a near full house at Thebarton Theatre. There was no support and an early kick off time with Hodgson playing the entire show spanning two hours finishing at a reasonable hour. New fans, old fans and die hard Supertramp fans of all ages were out in force to witness this truly great show. It is was definitely a show not to rock up late to with one of his biggest hits Take The Long Way Home being the opening tune followed by a very light hearted jibe at those who missed it trying to find their seats in the darkness saying they missed the best song. Wow! His trademark sound was perfect and Hodgson’s voice did not skip a beat either. Hodgson’s opening remark was “We made it!” too loud applause then requesting the lights be turned on so he could see his beautiful audience. Hodgson is full of wisdom, charm and eternally grateful that his music continues to live on being just as relevant today as it ever has been before. It was the last night of his Australian tour and Hodgson commented that they have fallen for the Australian spirit going on to say that this show was a journey through his life and that music holds memories like nothing else.
Ironically, the show was not at Bonython Park as originally planned but the potted palms and the lighting effects used in Thebarton Theatre created a much superior feel and experience. So many great songs in his set list taking fans back to different points in time in his life from School, the ever so popular Breakfast In America and Lovers In The Wind. Hodgson recalls the time he wrote Breakfast In America at the age of nineteen taking one hour on a pump organ saying that he still smiles to this day when he sings those lyrics. For those who could whistle Easy Does It was the perfect opportunity to participate and Sister Moonshine was just brilliant. It was great that Hodgson took time to read some comments from letters sent in by fans (who coincidentally were in the audience) and how much those comments had touched him before playing Hide In Your Shell. It is hard not to appreciate how humble Hodgson is not take one moment for granted. Taking a moment to get his breathe back it was on to Lord Is It Mine. The Logical Song was epic and one of the highlights reel, if the crowd weren’t revved up by this point they definitely were now.
For me Death And A Zoo was a major standout with Hodgson posing the question, either death in the wild or death in a zoo? Complete with roaring animals, jungle noises, lighting effects and this thundering sound gave the feel of being in the wild. There was the softer side of Hodgson with Even In The Quietest Moments then taking things up a notch with Had A Dream (Sleeping With The Enemy) and I really digged the “bop-shoo-wah-nah”. Hodgson said that Adelaide was the best audience on tour even dedicating a song not recorded yet, The Awakening, to the promoter behind Space Events Phil Rankine who keeps putting on awesome shows for the music fans of Adelaide. Child Of Vision was next with Hodgson calling all the dreamers to the front of the stage to sing and dance their way through Dreamer. The main set finished on a Fool’s Overture which as Hodgson described consists of three parts and when put together worked famously.
There was and wasn’t and encore with Hodgson asked the crowd to forego the usual routine of the band leaving the stage, the crowd makes noise and then they return. Bloody great idea to me. The encore couldn’t get any bigger with the super catchy sing-a-long tunes Give A Little Bit and It’s Raining Again. Hodgson wanted the crowd to go home with a smile on their face and no doubt that they did. If you contemplated and didn’t go you really did miss an outstanding show that had everything and more.
Live Review By Rob Lyon