Renowned for his gritty, powerful vocals and flamboyant stage performances, Joe Cocker was an iconic voice for two generations of music fans.
Geelong audiences will have the chance to experience Australia’s premier Joe Cocker tribute show when the Joe Cocker Express performs at Geelong Arts Centre on Thursday, February 20.
Featuring a nine-piece band playing two one-hour sets of Joe Cocker classics, the show takes listeners on a journey through the legendary singer’s multifaceted career.
“We’ve come up with the Mad Dog versus Englishman show, which compares Joe’s two contrasting career points,” singer Chev Wilson said.
“Mad Dog shows his early years, when he was wild and crazy and doing all the Beatles songs, the Woodstock performance, all that high energy stuff.
“And then there’s the Englishman, when he was suited up, showing the gentleman side of him doing ballads like Up Where We Belong and Have a Little Faith in Me. That part of his career where we got to see the softer side of Joe.”
Wilson said Cocker’s music still hit as hard as ever with audiences.
“As an emoter, singer is all about portraying the emotions we feel as human beings, and Joe was very relatable in that sense,” he said.
“The songs that he chose gave him the opportunity to be able to put those emotions forward; just the level of emotion and pain and power and all these different things that he could portray through his vocal delivery of a song.
“I think that builds a deep connection with people. “
Visit geelongartscentre.org.au for tickets and more information.
Matt Hewson
