Fradam

Recently, Kellie and I visited the latest venue to be graced by Guy Sebastian’s musical talents, one of the places where all performers can be humbled: the Sydney Opera House. It was very much a case of ‘returning to the scene of the crime’, as this was where it all started, where Guy was crowned the first Australian Idol. Being at the Opera House demanded a bit of fancyness, and upon arrival, it was clear that the audience at this concert was far older than the usual Guy fanfare, almost on par with the Elton crowd!

The seats we had were awesome (hats off to Kellie! ). Dead set centre and one level up; it afforded a view of the entire stage, and the choir behind. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. To top it off, it was quite a way through the concert that people even sat in front of us, so the view was mostly uninterrupted. Looking around, there really wasn’t a position in the entire hall that I’d have preferred… except maybe right on stage

The first half of the concert was Guy’s music, ‘remixed orchestral style’… I mean, the tunes were largely untouched, but hearing these tunes created by about 15 violins was pretty amazing! Song selection basically consisted of most of his singles, and a few of his personal favourites that were suited towards his backing. Hearing “Climb Every Mountain” was always going to be a powerful one to experience, this time with a full orchestra behind him… whilst he’s never been able to hit that final note the way he did in Idol, it was still intense and elicited a standing ovation.

What really impressed me during this entire section was the control of the conductor. I’ve honestly never seen much orchestral music, save for school bands, but keeping a tight rein on 30 or so people spread across that area can never be easy. Keeping in mind that Guy’s usual band is a group of like-minded individuals who are very flexible and can work around his constant adlibbing of lyrics and trills, and therein lies the potential for chaos; or at least, a restriction on how much leeway Guy really had. Or so I thought. It didn’t stop Guy from being his usual self with his music, and the power the conductor wielded as he kept the entire orchestra in time with Guy with his song changes was amazing! It was almost like improv classical as all the music paused with an instant’s notice, and then quickly rejoining the fray as Guy returned back to song. Just amazing.

Following the intermission, Guy took up a few of the Beatles’ classics - throwing the gauntlet across time and space at Shannon, he performed a wonderful rendition of Hey Jude that garnered much praise from the audience. He moved onto Elvis and whilst I don’t know Elvis’ music that well, he definitely had some good choices there that suited both his voice and the orchestra behind him. Guy then made a tribute to his dad, and belted out some genuine classics - old blue eyes with ‘The way you look tonight’ (possibly my favourite Sinatra song ever!), and Nat King Cole too!

In a strong move, he also chose to perform a few gospel songs — all quite strong ones, and even a few that I knew! :p So quickly however, it seemed to come to an end, an exhilirating ride that brought an amazing evening to a close. All in all, an awesome concert To witness such talent, in such an inspiring locale… well, you kinda wonder if you can ever get there too!

I discovered that the experience had renewed the vigor for my Australian Idol campaign (remember, vote 1 Fradam!)… somewhat sadly, it appears I’m not the only one.

Idol 2007 has already seen 30,000 singers try out for the show, the same as last year, and thousands tried their luck at Sydney’s Australian Technology Park over the weekend.

Australian Idol began in 2003 and sifted through 20,000 hopefuls in capital cities to find its first winner, Guy Sebastian.

Doh… not as much chance, but we can always hope!