I guess that when your chart career started way back in 1963 it must be pretty difficult to find a way to please all of your fans by playing their favourite songs and putting them into a 75 minute timescale. Dionne largely managed to do this and the only potentially expected one not to make it was possibly ‘Heartbreaker’. Despite that the audience at Perths Riverside Theatre on Saturday were treated to a fabulous evenings entertainment with songs contributed from either one or both of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The only exception being 1979’s Richard Kerr and Williams Jennings “I’ll never love this way again’.
The audience were clearly expecting an intimate encounter with Dionne which was immediately encouraged by her asking them to participate from the outset.
So starting with 1964’s ‘Walk On By’ they duly obliged.
She fairly romped through her Sixties song catalogue with’Anyone who had a heart’, ‘You’ll never get to heaven (if you break my heart), ‘I’ll never fall in love again’, ‘Message to Michael’, ‘This girls in love with you’, ‘Alfie’, and ‘Do you know the way to San Jose’ in which she introduced her excellent four piece band. The comparatively little known, but excellently executed, ‘If I want to’, preceded more audience participation in ‘I’ll never love this way again’ and then the Hal David and Albert Hammond ‘ 99 miles from L.A’. We then heard Dionne’s very fine re-working of ‘I say a little prayer’ and then penultimately with ‘What the world needs now is Love’ which also prompted some lighthearted admonishment from Dionne when the assembled ‘Perth audience choir’ failed to sing some of the lyrics three times consecutively resulting in a minor hold up from Dionne with suitable instruction so that they finally got it right.
Finally , and all too soon, we ended with ‘That’s what friends are for’.
All in all a performance not to be missed and as this latest visit to Australia and New Zealand is billed as the ‘One Last Time Tour’ anyone who hasn’t yet got tickets you really must go get them.
Some years ago Burt Bacharach said that his and Hal David’s association with Dionne was likened to a marriage made in heaven and built on love and understanding. Her love of music and their understanding of her great talent. He clearly wasn’t wrong then and on last nights showing Dionne’s love of music and of her ability to captivate her audience still clearly exists as much today as it did then.
