ELI YOUNG VETERANS - TRAFFIC TEDIUM
It was the
calm between the autumnal storms as fans from the bush and suburbs battled
horrific traffic jams to catch the Texan quintet kick the dew off the
glass at the famed tennis court.
The traffic - well, there's renovations as far as the eye can see as the
city fathers try to finish this Yarra bank sporting and entertainment
HQ.
I hesitate to use the word mecca as public transport planning is pitiful
with solitary tram and route march from either Richmond or Flinders St
railway stations.
There were no stretch limos for the sons and daughters of the soil - just
a fleet of Utes, people movers, sedans and bikes - motor and push.
Maybe Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer could arrange for his CIA
and Greens chums to parachute patrons into this sporting stadium.
Forget the carbon and mining taxes - patrons are already selling off the
family farm to pay inflated prices for diverse drinks of multiple colours
and concoctions.
Members of opening act - The Eli Young Band - met at the University of
North Texas at Denton in 2000.
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It was the
first foray down under for the quartet who became a quintet after releasing
its 14 track fifth album Life At Best in 2011.
The muddy mix would not have been tolerated at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport
traffic control HQ.
But the lads exuded energy equal to the occasion by kicking off their
set with Always The Love Songs and most recent hit Even If It
Breaks Your Heart.
It segued into "the song that changed our lives and got us our major
label record deal," singer Mike Eli told the fast growing floor patrons
as they reached back to last decade for When It Rains.
They also plucked Oklahoma Girl - penned by Eli and bassist Jon
Jones after a gig at the Wormy Dog Saloon in Stillwater, Oklahoma, from
2005 album Level - a disc that preceded 2008 disc Jet Black & Jealous.
"Made a 2-hour drive to stay one night/ a kiss on the lips made it
all feel right/ her hands through my hair and her head on my chest/ the
whole day we stayed in bed/ that's OK I don't mind/ this Texas boy just
might find something in that Oklahoma girl."
Sadly the band's energy was not rewarded with a clear conduit for Eli
or his partners in rhyme.
But latter
day fans recognised regret riddled Skeletons - written by Eli and
guitarist James Young from their new disc - and maybe Radio Waves.
Eli revealed drummer Chris Thompson, latter day Austin resident, was raised
in South Texas and one of the writers of next song Small Town Kid.
"I'm a small town kid, driven by rock music/ and some honky-tonk,
in the mix/ I like whiskey in coke, a double to the top/a shot of Cuervo
now and then/ I never ask for a lot, I'll never need much/ just a good-looking
lady who can drive my truck/ I'm not afraid to admit, I'm that small town
kid."
By now the newest kid in the band Keith Davis may have wondered if anyone
in the audience could hear his highly visible but barely audible pedal
steel guitar.
His prayers were answered when they reached their finale - first #1 hit
Crazy Girl penned by expatriate Port Douglas songwriter Kylie Sackley's
former lover Lee Brice and Liz Rose.
The quintet, celebrating its 12th year on the lost highway, grinned and
bared it as the crowd equally belatedly escaped the traffic, streamed
in and screamed.
Audience reaction hinted the band's exuberance may have overcome the imperfections
of the sound mix.
Perhaps Mary Chapin Carpenter's humorous Opening Act could have
been pumped over the house P.A. instead of the rousing rock music.
FAITH IN HILL
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But all was
forgotten when Audrey Faith Perry - the orphan from Star, Mississippi
- strutted on stage in high heel boots and skin tight stretch pants that
would have strangled a kennel of puppies.
The vivacious mother of three daughters, long known as Faith Hill, sang
as well as she looked.
Here was an energised chanteuse eager to maximise returns from a seven
year recording hiatus with singing superstar spouse Tim McGraw's road
band The Dancehall Doctors.
There may been some plank-walkers from Tim's cast of musical medics who
backed him on his 2010 tour but that was of little moment tonight.
The sound mixer picked up every note and nuance as Hill kicked off with
John Rich penned hit Mississippi Girl and This Kiss - the
Annie Roboff-Beth Nielsen Chapman-Robin Lerner tune.
Hill didn't need studio tricks to shoot the "centrifugal motion"
lyric in her kiss classic beyond the radio moat before seguing into The
Way You Love Me.
This was a joyous journey with mandolin and banjo audible in the mix and
a black back-up vocalist enabling Hill to daub her country pop with a
dash of soul and gospel.
Hill broke into a "more British than Australian accent" from
her Adelaide foray to introduce new songs from unreleased eighth album
Illusion.
She kicked it off with 600 Years - a song performed at a recent
Nashville showcase - Amos Lee tune Flower and American Heart.
Hill also revived It Matters To Me before another Roboff-Chapman
song Free from her Cry album.
"I feel like Oprah," Hill joked as she explained how the lyrics
of Free - depicting childhood struggles and self-doubt - resonated
with her long after she recorded the song in 2002.
"I felt captured in my hell before feeling free to be myself."
The singer and band revved up tempo with first huge hit Wild One
before performing the hook heavy, radio magnet - new album title track
Illusion.
This was, my partner whispered to me, a definite hit pick.
She also performed the Dianne Warren penned There You'll Be from
the Pearl Harbour movie.
With that established, Hill revived previous hits Breathe and Stronger
with a refrain from Amazing Grace that further proved her vocal
prowess.
Hill was in top gear for Take Me As I Am and Bert Berns-Jerry Ragavoy
song Little Piece Of My Heart - also a hit for the late Texan Janis
Joplin.
QUICK DRAW MCGRAW
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It was now
song 14 so the singer began Let's Make Love - a song needing a
duet partner.
Luckily, there was a thin bloke in black hat and holey jeans in need of
a needle and thread from a southern seamstress, in the wings.
McGraw played his consensual role with a flourish and took the opposite
end of the catwalk before thanking his singing spouse with a wave for
her hour offstage on double time with her harmonist.
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Dean
Brown, now fiddling for a new master, kicked off Real Bad Boy
as McGraw led into Big Kenny penned Last Dollar - one of
many hits - and Where The Green Grass Grows. McGraw, unlike Hill, was not as keen to promote songs from his new album. |
His protracted
lawsuit with former label Curb over the belated release of Emotional
Traffic - his 11th album - was his angst anchor.
But Tim dipped into that disc for Better Than I Used To Be - previously
recorded by fellow Louisiana born star Sammy Kershaw.
PRE SEASON FOOTBALL KICK OFF
Then it was
back to more hits - the once controversial dance floor ditty Indian
Outlaw and I Like It I Love It that prompted the arrival on
stage of a yellow football that he later kicked to his roadies.
Well, it was late at night and with memories of Geelong's 2011 victory
no sign of a Collingwood or St Kilda football jumper like his last tour.
The singer kicked up another cog with dynamic delivery of geographical
gems Everywhere and previous album title track Southern Voice
- also the musical finale of one of his movies The Blind Side.
But he did revert to the present with Felt Good On My Lips - first
hit from his new album - and Live Like You Are Dying that echoed
the sentiments of the premature death of his baseball star dad Tug.
The entrée by Hill may have helped McGraw surpass the country quotient
of his repertoire from his last Australian sojourn.
DUETS BY CANDLE LIGHT
By song 28 it was time to welcome back the good Stepford wife Hill for a brace of duets that began with Angry All The Time from the prolific pen of Texan Bruce Robison.
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Then
the couple dined out on Tim's new album with culinary delight One
Part, Two Part written by soul singer Big Dee Irwin. "Horses are running wide open I just gotta ride/ to those honky-tonk bars that stay open way past closing time/ songs about free thinkin' and drinking sure light my fire/ that flame leaves a scar on my heart like an old branding iron/ between Texas and ranchers and old friends where do you fit in/ woman come lay down beside me and be my shotgun rider." |
More familiar
- but maybe not as visually vivid - was the couple's duet hit It's
Your Love.
It was 31 songs and more than two hours since Hill first strode on stage
as the couple and Dance Hall Doctors decamped in the dark.
But there was torchlight in the stable as the roadies carried two chairs
and table to the front of stage catwalk.
Yes, an evocative encore as they strolled down the aisle and sat across
the table.
They peered deep into each other's eyes as they ignited David Lee-Tony
Lane hit I Need You.
McGraw ran his hands up and down Hill's slender legs while she found the
holes in hubby's jeans when she reciprocated before they kissed.
"I need you like a needle needs a vein/ like my uncle Joe in Oklahoma
needs rain/ I need you like a lighthouse on a coast/ like the Father and
the Son need the Holy Ghost."
Hill and McGraw definitely found their vocal and aortic veins - it was
a hard act to follow and luckily nobody tried.
Maybe the tabloid TV shows could have explored the McGraw-Hill diet recipe
that enables the couple, both 44, to retain their figures and poise.
Nocturnal marathons on tennis courts and arenas are invaluable clues.
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