Markus Hamence Presents Renee Geyer @ The Regal Theatre, Kensington Park SA 23/7/2022
Markus Hamence Presents is on fire with all the artists he’s bring to Adelaide, breathing new life into the Regal Theatre. Next on the list was Renee Geyer with Mason Lloyde as support. It was a night of heart and soul from both artists that had everyone entertained for a full 3 hours!
Mason Lloyde is known from his appearance on the TV show The Voice and I have to say this guy has definitely got THE voice! Smooth and soulful he sang with heart through his 7 song setlist. Starting out with slower tunes of Struggle, Reach Out, Shy then belting out some upbeat songs My Plan, Your To Blame and his latest release Free Man. Giving us the back stories and meaning of each song they were tales of friendships, lost loves and self-discovery. Lloyde gave a stellar performance and if he didn’t tell us, you couldn’t tell that he just recently recovered from COVID.
Renee Geyer! Just wow! In so many different ways. Entering the stage to loud excited cheers she started her show by bantering with the audience telling us “I’m so happy to be at the Regal Theatre” and by the sounds of the audience reaction that were just as happy. Her first song was hit The Thrill is Gone starting off strong vocally reminding us why we loved her music back in the day while guitarist Charlie Owens was rocking it out with his first solo of the night. One thing for sure the connection Geyer had with her band was tight. They were in sync and they read her ques like clockwork; Yuri Pavlinov on Bass, Antony Floyd on Drums and Mart Saarelaht on Keys. At times is was just like a private jam session.
Geyer ran through most of her hits and some of other artists and in most cases singing the whole song. One thing is for sure Geyer was here to do things her way. Running through songs Peace and Understanding, Nasty Streak, Heading in the Right Direction, Standing on Shakey Ground and the reggae classic Limbo but it was when she started singing Difficult Woman she showed what a difficult woman could do. She sang a few lines and then demanded the band stop as she didn’t feel like singing it anymore directing them to play a blues song. As she reminded us many times during the night, she is almost 70 and “can do whatever the fuck she wants!” I guess after a career spanning 5 decades this Melbourne born, Sydney raised gal has the right to do what ever the fuck she wants!
It was easy to see (or actually hear) which song the crowd were waiting for as one fan stood up and yelled many times “Say I Love You.” At one point she was told to ‘Shut up’ by Geyer for the constant disruption. When the song was finally played, much to the disappointment of this fan the song was barely recognisable. It took some in the crowd a few minutes into the song and the repeated “Oh Oh Oh’ to know it was Say I Love You. Singing her most famous hit probably a thousand times must be too repetitive for her but the slower reggae style vibe lost all its shine from the upbeat 1981 hit.
Finishing off on a high with the Paul Kelly hit Foggy Highway and It’s a Mans World her power vocals were back to end the show. Geyer was funky, soulful, naughty and provoking. It was a wild ride and if anything whether it was singing or not she sure did entertain the crowd for the two hours on stage!
Live Review By Anastasia Lambis