Icehouse weren’t good on Saturday night, they were great. What an honour it was to see one of Australia’s cutting edge acts of the 80s make such a dynamic return.
So few artists today come even near to repeating the success of Icehouse in the 80s. They were one of Australia’s great international successes as well.
“It’s gonna get warm in here tonight,” Iva Davies said to the capacity crowd at Melbourne’s icon venue The Espy. He was right. This band was on fire from beginning to end.
There were a couple of faux pas. At one point half the band started playing one song and the other play another. Iva treated it like it was meant to be part of the act.
After an hour of hit about hit after hit after hit where the entire crowd sang along to every word of every song, the band returned for a cover of The Easybeats ‘Sorry’ then Chris Cheney from The Living End joined them for Bowie’s ‘The Jean Genie’. Chris said afterwards that he was in awe. “I can’t believe I got to play live with Icehouse,” he told me after the show.
As for the show itself, it was non-stop hits. How many acts today can play for one hour where you know every song?
The setlist was:
Icehouse (from Flowers, 1980)
We Can Get Together (from Flowers, 1980)
Crazy (from Man of Colours, 1987)
Electric Blue (from Man of Colours, 1987)
Hey Little Girl (from Primitive Man, 1982)
Love In Motion (single, 1981)
Heroes (from Heroes, 2004)
Great Southern Land (from Primitive Man, 1982)
Walls (from Flowers, 1980)
Can’t Help Myself (from Flowers, 1980)
Nothing Too Serious (from Man of Colours, 1987)
Sorry (The Easybeats cover)
The Jean Genie (David Bowie cover)
I know they are testing the water to see what happens next but based on Saturday, I suspect there will be a lot more gigs in the future.
Young bands take note. See Icehouse. They set the benchmark for live performance and can kick your arse.
VIDEO: Icehouse, watch the Undercover interview with Iva Davies:
Add the Iva Davies interview to your website.
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