Olivia Down Under 2012 - the full works

Ever the great performer, Olivia Newton-John wowed audiences with three knock-out concerts at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It was obvious that Olivia was happy to be back in her home country and fans returned the love tenfold.

Alfie Boe opened for Olivia and entertained the crowd with his quit wit and powerful singing including the fabulous Bring Him Home from Les Miserables. On opening night, Boe mentioned that Matt Lucas from Little Britain was attending the concert. A quick shout out from Lucas confirmed his presence. In fact, Lucas managed to throw Boe off his game by asking him to hurry up with his set as he needed to use the bathroom.

On another night, Alfie broke into a wild rendition of You’re The One That I Want at the beginning of one of his songs which in turn sent the Sydney Symphony into musical chaos. “Sorry, I don’t know why I did that,” laughed Boe…probably a lifelong dream of his to hit the stage as Danny Zuko and belt out the iconic Grease song alongside Olivia.

Boe interacted with the audience several times during his set. “You don’t have a clue who I am, do you…” he asked jokingly in between numbers. “John Denver!” came an answer from the back of the stalls. “John Denver?” repeated Boe in bemusement. “One of the Bee Gees I’d understand, but John Denver?” Half-way through his set, Boe dedicated a song to his 4-year-old daughter then, ever the joker, announced that he’d put her up for sale on eBay. The crowd lapped up his words.

Olivia Newton-John takes to the stage looking fit and trim

After a short break, Olivia took to the stage looking as stunning as ever in a sexy, sequined black outfit. She kicked off her set with several challenging numbers including fan favourite A Little More Love. Her voice was strong and youthful; her performance confident and dynamic. Olivia sang many of her 70s and 80s hits including Have You Never Been Mellow, Sam and songs from Xanadu. This was followed by a country medley.

I had brought along a musketeer hat purchased in a novelty store that I had modified by replacing a buckle and feather with an ONJ label. It wasn’t quite the Stetson that I’d hoped for, but looked country enough to pass as a cowboy hat. Just before Olivia began singing If Not For You, French fan Arielle Guittard and I leapt from our front row seats to give Livvy the hat. She wore it during Let Me Be There and swung it around liberally during If You Love Me Let Me Know.

The ONJ “Yihaaaa” hat above

 
Olivia in cowboy hat during her country medley (above)
The bass player borrows the hat (below)

During Physical, the Japanese fans seated next to me slipped on some sporty headbands and got to their feet to give the exercise-inspired number their best shot. Olivia seemed delighted that they were having so much fun and gave them an approving nod. During Xanadu, fans Nabil Chouari, Rebekah Cotton, Arielle, I and our Japanese friends held up some multi-coloured glow sticks in an “X” every time Olivia hit the main chorus. As our glow sticks were very small and the lights on stage were very bright, we apparently looked as though we were brandishing strands of spaghetti. Not sure what the rows behind us were thinking as they were trying to work out the connection between the song and pasta.

Olivia’s version of Send In The Clowns was a “goose bump moment”. Her interpretation was heartfelt and honest and reminded me how I felt the first time I saw her perform Don’t Cry For Me Argentina live.

An addition to Olivia’s concert was the much-awaited Dance medley from A Few Best Men which featured classics such as Mickey, I Think I Love You, Daydream Believer, Sugar Sugar and the new John Farrar track Weightless. Olivia performed the medley with gusto and in a rock style that would have pleased many a fan, especially those who had longed to hear more vocals in those numbers.

A string of Grease hits followed with Aussie singer David Campbell channelling John Travolta during You’re The One That I Want. A pleasant surprise was the addition of We Go Together which brought back some great memories of the movie and reminded me again why Grease was such a big success in the 70s, appealing to fans of all ages, and why the movie still enchants new generations of viewers today. Grease is the word and seemingly always will be!

Olivia and David Campbell performing You’re The One That I Want above and below 

As Olivia finished mesmerising the audience with her closing number, I Honestly Love You, Arielle and I made a final dash forward to the stage with a family size box of Cherry Ripe chocolates which Olivia seemed to appreciate. Rebekah handed her a big bunch of flowers which she gratefully accepted.

Olivia and band: Warren, Andy, Steve and Marlen

There were many other highlights during the Sydney concerts, probably too many to list. However, one of the most memorable has to be the Meet & Greet following the Thursday concert. Besides the obvious pleasure of having a quick chat with Olivia, a picture and getting a canvas signed by her, it was great meeting her backing singer, Steve Real. I really enjoyed our talk.

With Steve Real at the Meet & Greet

As Aussie-based fan Chris Rutherford writes in his detailed account of encounters with Olivia and her band members, they are very respectful of her fans and protective of her which is lovely to see. They seem extremely united and you can clearly pick up on their complicity when they perform on stage: a wink here, a smile there. Sitting in the front row (a first for me!) enabled us to interact a lot more with Olivia and her band during the show which made an already great experience that much more enjoyable.

Steve Real, Nabil Chouari, Arielle Guittard, Marlen Landin and me

But the Olivia experience didn’t end there. On Sunday, all those who had travelled from overseas for the Australian tour joined my partner, me and a handful of friends for an “Olivia BBQ”. The weather was glorious and it was a perfect opportunity to get everyone together one last time. Several hamburgers and much wine later, we took to the karaoke machine and sang our hearts out to Livvy classics (Arielle is still without voice today…LOL). I’m sure our dulcet tones could be heard in Perth!

The Olivia BBQ (clockwise from front): Nabil Chouari, Michael Wing Lun, Frederic Nowak, Sophie Hauchart, Larry Barber, Lucien Nedzi, Luke Brighty, Arielle Guittard, Frederic Brillouet and Rebekah Cotton

All in all, we had a great time and I guess much of that has to do with Olivia. She did bring us together after all. To Livvy, her band, Olivia friends old and new, I stand here in grace and gratitude…

And I thank you!

Cheers, Luke

From left to right: me, Olivia and my partner Michael