One man band: Leo Sayer plays Geelong next week.
ERIN PEARSON
JULIA Gillard and Barrack Obama should be rock and roll managers, according to international pop music icon Leo Sayer.
The award-winning artist drew parallels between politics and music while speaking with the Independent ahead of his show in Geelong next week.
“Politics is exactly the same as the music business,” Sayer mused.
“From Obama to Gillard, they could all be great rock and roll managers because they’re incredibly good at selling something that’s a lie.”
Sayer said the Geelong gig was one stop on his “heck of a schedule” while touring regional Australia.
“I’m 63 years old and have never worked so much in my whole life,” he laughed.
“My routing across Australia isn’t totally cohesive. You can’t plan a tour like we used to but that’s the risk I take for wanting to go to the country.
“Having driven through Geelong so many times to Lorne for corporate shows or something else, I really wanted to do some normal gigs – here I come.”
Sayer promised his fans a “true” experience in Geelong.
He believed onstage trickery was replacing talent among too many contemporary performers.
“Unfortunately, the result is coming up quite mediocre,” Sayer lamented.
“Where are the new Bruce Springsteens and Kurt Cobains? Where’s the new Prince of urban music?
“Real talent is so naked. You can’t deny your skill, so it’s tragic that music’s becoming all technology and not craft.
“Magic happens when I’m on stage and I can see audiences still hankering for that.”
Sayer promised a magical journey across the world of music in his 70-minute performance
“Ray Davies (lead singer of The Kinks) used to say you needed to get a world into a three-minute song, a description of a time and place, an utter lifetime into one song.
“It’s not just about the song, it’s about a musical adventure on stage.”
Sayer’s said his 40th Anniversary Concert Tour would feature hits including You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, Thunder In My Heart, When I Need You, One Man Band and Long Tall Glasses.
Sayer will perform at Geelong Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday.
