By NOEL MURPHY
TRY THIS quick list for a catalogue of classic Australian rock hits: Great Wall, Onion Skin, Dancing In The Storm, Get Set, Everywhere You Go, Creepin’ Up Slowly, Run To Paradise, Boys Will Be Boys, Never Gonna Die.
It’s a snapshot of hard-rocking Aussie musical history. But how far would punters have to travel to find these seminal songs performed live by anything other than a solo or duo cover band on acoustic guitars?
The live music industry has changed substantially over the life of the bands who wrote and performed these songs.
Taxiride’s Jason Singh will readily attest to that, likewise his mates from Boom Crash Opera and Choirboys.
Which is why they’ve joined forces to bring their hits – some 18 top-40 offerings from the ’80s, ’90s and noughties – back to the public, live and raw, soulful and powerful.
And according to Singh, it’s going to be as much as hoot for him and Boom Crach Opera’s Dale Ryder and Choirboys’ Mark Gable as it will be for audiences when the trio plays at Corio’s Gateway Hotel next month.
The triumvirate’s chart success has been coupled with multi-platinum number-one albums, ARIA awards and decades of sold-out live shows.
“We’ll be doing the hits, every one of them,” Singh told the independent.
“We’re all doing about five each of our own singles and then a bunch of covers of Australian classics and then an all-in brawl at the end, hopefully not the audience.”
Singh said the new show, christened The Voices Of was an example of how live music in Australia had changed in recent years.
Maintaining a career as a working musician wasn’t getting any easier but at the ripe old age of 40, Singh said he was still writing prodigiously and excited about performing.
“I’m coming up 20 years in the industry and it’s changed a lot and you’ve got to change with it which is what The Voices Of is about,” he said.
“People want to hear hit after hit these days and there comes a time in your career when you feel proud and hold very fond memories of these songs.
“This was my idea. I thought, ‘Why not get together and do all our hits’.
“The other blokes are my friends and they jumped at it. We’ll be paying respect to some of the biggest hits Australia’s ever had – including songs I grew up on.”
Singh and friends will appear in The Voices at the Gateway Hotel on 11 July.
