The Corrs, Natalie Imbruglia, Toni Childs, Germein @ Entertainment Centre, Adelaide 2/11/2023
It is not often that you get a star studded quality line up with four bands back to back like this with world conquering siblings The Corrs, pop star Natalie Imbruglia, Toni Childs and Adelaide’s very own Germein giving fans plenty of value for money and four hours or so of great music. So it comes as no surprise to fit in four wonderful performances that the night kicked off well before seven o’clock making it a challenge to negotiate heavy traffic to get there and a brisk walk to the door.
Adelaide’s very own the Germein sisters flew the hometown flag proudly and it has been a while since I have seen them play but wow they have taken some quantum leaps forward. Looking right at home on the big stage they played to a crowd that was starting to build. They have some really great indie pop rock tunes in the kit bag and their enthusiasm is infectious getting fans in a great mood for what is about to come. Legendary Toni Childs was a great inclusion and played a commanding set which featured big hits I’ve Got To Go Now, Stop Your Fussin’ and Don’t Walk Away. House Of Hope was a stunning song giving some subtle contrast and set closer I Believe in You was marvellous.
It has been a while since Natalie Imbruglia played in town and she hit the stage brimming with energy opening with What It Feels Like and Wishing I Was There. Surprised by the reaction from her cheer squad saying “oh my god listen to you” seemed to lift the collective energy of the band a couple of notches with popular songs Wrong Impression and Shiver. Newish song On My Way from 2021’s Firebird album came after a bout of writer’s block. Highlighting that she is a big fan of The Strokes Natalie spoke about the song Maybe It’s Great that she wrote with Albert Hammond Jr. The distinct Strokes guitar sound was all over this one and an interesting contrast with the songs she usually creates. Natalie had plenty of fans in the crowd who knew the words and sung them back with much gusto and no doubt she would have won over some new fans. So many great songs with the obvious highlight being Torn closely followed by new song Habit which she has been playing on the UK festival scene. Big Mistake brought her set to a close and I’m pretty sure there would be plenty of demand for her to return for her own tour.
The Corrs are an elite band and when it comes to talent they definitely have an abundance of riches. Siblings Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim played a faultless show that spanned the best part of two hours offering something new, something old and few timeless classics thrown in for good measure. The atmosphere was great as The Corrs charged their way through Only When I Sleep, Give Me A Reason and Summer Sunshine. Hard to believe it has been twenty years since they were last here and Andrea said that it was wonderful to be back in this “blissful paradise to escape the winter back home”. Feeling blessed to be here they were hoping that everyone would have a wonderful time and that we did. It is pleasing to see that they maintain the proud traditional Irish themes in their music on Erin Shore which lead in to Forgiven Not Forgotten.
The covers Little Lies (a tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s Chrissie McVie), Little Wing (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), No Frontiers (Jimmy MacCarthy) and a little later in the set Dreams (Fleetwood Mac) were absolute gold. After Joy of Life / Trout in the Bath Andrea thought there were lots of people from Ireland here, even people from their home town making it an incentive to move to Australia but maybe in a “parallel universe”. Other highlights in the main set included singles Radio, So Young and I Never Loved You Anyway. The atmosphere was greater and became electric in the encore with Runaway, Breathless and Toss The Feathers. All round great show and hopefully it isn’t another twenty years for a return visit.
Live Review By Rob Lyon