Markus Hamence Presents Wendy Matthews @ The Regal Theatre, Kensington Park SA 22/4/2023
ARIA Award winner Wendy Matthews graced the stage Saturday night to a loud roar of approval from the packed crowd of The Regal Theatre. Matthews, excited to be in Adelaide with a four-piece band started the night with her 1993 hit single Fridays Child from second album Lily, setting the tone for hits and popular covers.
Bringing out the soulful tunes of Womans Gotta Have It, TKO and Follow You Down before changing it up for the up-tempo It Won’t Matter Matthews told us that she “has a thing for angels.” Singing the first ‘angel’ song Token Angels from her 1990 album Émigré with Mark Meyer showing his prowess on the drums, the crowd were under her spell.
Crowd favourite The Day You Went Away was the first acoustic number for the night with Brendan St Ledger on keys and a deafening silence from the audience up until the end with a standing ovation, cheers, and applause for a few good minutes. The crowd were loving every minute prompting Matthews to declare “I need to spend more time in Adelaide!”
A poignant moment during the show was song Little Boy about a deer called John (John Deer) that Matthews received unexpectedly from her neighbour and eventually raising him for eight years. With Mick King on guitar this acoustic version even brought a few tears to some in crowd.
Bringing out the covers from some of her favourite artists, Al Green’s Love and Happiness and Joni Mitchells Cherokee Louise Matthews showcased her soulful side before getting back to original hits Standing Strong and the second ‘angel’ track Kiss Like Angels and ending on the Sydney Youngblood song If Only I Could.
It wasn’t long that the crowd had to stomp and cheer demanding for an encore. The band came back on and played for a few minutes before Matthews raced back on stage to sing The Maker and finishing with, I Don’t Want to be with Nobody but You.
Working the audience with her soulful vocals, cheeky banter and touching personal stories she gave Adelaide the full Wendy Matthews. On this night she was our token angel.
Live Review By Anastasia Lambis