The stage was set at Kings Park for an idyllic and serene evening, as crowds milled around on the grass and found their seats to settle in for Chris Isaak in concert.
The first support for the evening was ThornBird, a band that was born out of the pandemic. Vikki Thorn, one third of popular folk-rock trio The Waifs, brought her band of West Australian locals along to delight the crowd, introducing them all as though they were old friends meeting new friends, the audience. ThornBird began singing their beautiful pop blues melodies as the sunset orange clouds rolled lazily by in the late afternoon sun. It was what could be described as a perfect Perth evening. All of the members were smiling the entire time, as Thorn’s vocals rang out. By the time ThornBird’s set had finished, you truly felt like you had just caught up with friends that you had known for a lifetime.
Mark Seymour and the Undertow hit the stage next, warming up the crowd in anticipation of Chris Isaak who was still to come. Of former Hunters and Collectors fame, Mark Seymour’s vocals soared above the crowds and into the canopies of trees above. They played songs about life, of love and of dusty, long, red dirt roads on tour in the far north of Western Australia’s outback towns. It is easy to see why Seymour is one of the most established and celebrated musical story tellers of our time as the visual imagery paired perfectly with the tone of the guitars and the drum licks. Mark Seymour and the Undertow truly threw their arms around the crowd and got everyone up out of their seats grooving along as they played classic Aussie banger tracks such as Holy Grail, Do You See What I See and ended on classic ballad Throw Your Arms Around Me. If you are a fan of Midnight Oil, Tex Perkins or The Aints, you will enjoy Mark Seymour and the Undertow.
Setlist: The Boxer, Holy Grail, Westgate, Joanna, Cry In The Rain, Say Goodbye, Cherry Red, Lorelei, Dogs Of Williamstown, Do You See What I See, Throw Your Arms Around Me
We come to the main event as Chris Isaak and his band, Silvertone, took to the stage, his first time singing on West Australian shores since 2016. This part of the review comes with a fair warning: Isaak is so damn charming and charmed the pants off the entire audience.
Isaak, with his hair slicked back, came out in a pale blue suit to match his baby blue eyes, the glistening jewels matching the stars sparkling above in the night sky. Those stars couldn’t outshine the brightest one of all though, as Isaak performed to the crowd, starting with his hit Somebody’s Cryin’. Nobody was crying except those who missed out on the chance to see Isaak swoon the crowd with his charm. The audience were enchanted by his voice and swept up by the sweet, beautiful music before them.
Isaak took the night up a notch, stepping down from the stage and taking a journey through the very surprised crowd, to the amusement of all who were there. Ever the nice guy, Isaak sang, hugged, high-fived, and handshake’d fans on his way around the audience and back to the stage, never missing a single note of Don’t Leave Me On My Own. He worked his magic through the many anecdotes he told throughout the evening, his cheeky sense of humor unmistakable. He told of how a fire marshal had said to him during rehearsal not to do some things during a certain song, and Isaak asked if it was a fire hazard and the fire marshal had replied that it was just no good. He mused further that Rowley and Hershel had been working hard on a two-step and that while it was no Taylor Swift level performance with impeccable costumes and dancing, that his guys do things from the heart. He joked that this isn’t that, but they were going to do it anyway. And sure enough, soon the guitarists were two-stepping and spinning their way across the stage, charming the crowd and not missing a beat.
The mood was set with a spotlight as the Californian crooner slowed the pace down and sang Wicked Game. It was slow and beautiful, and perfectly delivered straight into the hearts of all who were there. Isaak’s magic continued with daring to play a Hank Marvin song, who was present in the audience. The bouncing bass lines of Pretty Woman picked up the pace as Isaak’s hypnotic voice made all the women in the audience feel like we, too, were pretty. A quick guitar swap saw the melancholic Forever Blues come true, with Isaak telling the crowd that if you like unrequited love songs and sad ballads that you have come to the motherload, because he loves singing that sad stuff.
Two Hearts saw another anecdote shared by Isaak of how he loved this time of day, and loved what he does performing on stage. He told us how he was born into show business because his dad drove a forklift so straight away, he had those connections (to the laughter and cheers of the crowd). Isaak truly has a way with words be it in his music, or the way he shares his heart, soul, and life with the audience through anecdotes. He told how the music he loved in his life is magical because he loved artists like Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis and Hank Marvin and then he got to play with them. These influences definitely shined through in his songs and the way he held himself lyrically throughout.
The audience were in for a treat as Isaak launched into a cover of Roy Orbison’s Only The Lonely. With his voice was like a velvet massage after a long day. How can musical notes and lyrics carry so much emotion, and at the same time convey so much emotion? That’s a question I spent much of the evening musing over as love song, sappy ballad and heart break hits were played one after the other. His hilarious sense of humour continued throughout the night as Isaak said if you’re here with someone special then at least they brought you a ticket, and if you’re by yourself then maybe think about why. This led into his rendition of Elvis’ hit Can’t Help Fallin’ In Love, as couples all around me held each other close, entwined in each other’s embrace. More hits followed, as the crowd continued to adore Isaak and be captivated by his charming sense of humour.
There was no sound quality difference between a recording and this live performance of Isaak, he sounded just as good as what you can hear on a record, except better because it was live and accompanied by his blue sparkly suit. He has still got it, more than 4 decades after his musical journey began, and he continues to still have it, that absolute pure magic. Isaak ended the night with a bang on Big Wide Wonderful World before returning to the stage to the raucous cheers of the audience. This time, he had done a quick outfit change to trade his baby blue suit for black disco. It was an even sparklier suit, and I really did not know it was possible to outsparkle himself, but he did it. This outfit was a black suit covered in disco ball mirrors. There was no missing where he was as he outshone the stars above and launched into Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing. This was followed by his sensual sultry keys-heavy number, Can’t Do A Thing, that you might expect to hear in a cigar lounge. The night ended with Isaak bringing up his drummer Kenney to sing harmonies with him on The Way Things Really Are, a purely spectacular number, to end a purely spectacular night. If you like Elvis, Roy Orbison, Talking Heads or Jeff Buckley then you will love and adore Chris Isaak.
Setlist: American Boy, Somebody’s Cryin’, Here I Stand, Don’t Leave Me On My Own, Put Out Your Hand, Wicked Game, Go Walking Down There, Speak Of The Devil, One Day, Oh Pretty Woman, Forever Blue, Two Hearts, Only The Lonely, Living For Your Lover, Let Me Down Easy, Can’t Help Fallin’ In Love, Blue Hotel, Notice The Ring, San Francisco Days, Big Wide Wonderful World, Baby Did, Can’t Do A Thing, The Way Things Really Are
With thanks to Revolutions Per Minute for the media accreditation.
Images Hunter Brothers Media
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