By Justin Flynn
Can you feel a severe case of Saturday Night Fever creeping up?
The Australian Bee Gees Show is coming to Geelong for some serious Jive Talkin’.
The performers’ authentic take on the trio’s clothes, style and moves showcase five decades of the Gibb brothers success as rock and disco legends, while audiences groove to their memorable music and are immersed in the disco era.
The Australian Bee Gees Show has formed a massive following worldwide and plays to packed out shows in Las Vegas.
Michael Clift plays the role of Barry Gibb, and is looking forward to hitting G-Town with the band, which formed 21 years ago
“The show started in Geelong,” he said.
“We’ve been there heaps of times, and we love it. We have always thought it was important to continue coming back to play in Australia.”
Clift said while the show had enjoyed success on an international stage, they still enjoyed bringing it back to Australia.
“We want to keep coming back to Australia, and sometimes we play at a 5000-seat stadium or a 500-seat venue and it doesn’t really matter because it’s such a fun show to do,” he said.
Most tribute bands face the dilemma of a loyal, but ageing audience. Not so for these guys.
“I think in the last seven years, our audience is actually getting younger,” he said.
“We are now getting groups of 20-something women and we think ‘hang on, they’re in the wrong showroom’. They know all the words.”
Concertgoers at GPAC on Sunday are in for a treat.
“We’ve dragged the white suits out of retirement and having a bit of fun with it,” Clift said.
Clift said it was never a goal to play in the band.
“It was more that we thought it would be a great show to do,” he said.
“The main motivation at first was to see if we could cover it musically first and then get the look after that.”
Clift said people didn’t embrace the show at first, more than two decades ago.
“At the start they didn’t really warm to us,” he said.
“It took a while for them to work out that we were doing a heartfelt show, and it did eventually build over time.”
Geelong is the last stop for the band on its Australian tour. After that, they head to the US for three shows and then back to the Excalibur in Las Vegas.
Incidentally, today (1 September) is the real Barry Gibb’s birthday.
Sunday’s show is at Geelong Performing Arts Centre at 8pm.
Tickets at www.gpac.org.au, 5225 1200 or in person at 50 Little Malop Street, Geelong.
