"I am forever grateful and blessed with the life I've had". That is what Andrew Farris said during the last show of his east coast of Australia tour, "Songs & Stories".
When entering the main floor at Brass Monkey or "The Monkey" (as locals call it), I was surprised that the venue was set up for a dinner and show format. With such an Aussie icon performing, you would expect the floor be cleared for people to dance. Especially for the setlist Andrew and his his 3 piece band performed that night. Apart from the room setup, I later realised the venue was suited for an intimate experience rather than a rock concert I was expecting.
Before Andrew, Imogen Clark graced the stage. Imogen had been opening for Andrew for majority of his tour before she jets off to the States & Britain for a set of shows in May. I spoke to a few of the audience members after her set and one of them told me he said he hadn't felt more emotion in a performer since when he saw Joni Mitchell at the Sydney Opera House in 1983. Each song compassionately telling her story of memories, loss, love and overcoming anxiety. Intimate knowledge. What sealed the deal for myself and most the audience was for her last song, she sung without the aid of a microphone yet her vocals and accoustic guitar echoed throughout the room. Not many performers can keep an audience's attention and stay silent during a what I call "a moment". There is a reason people like Colin Hay from Men At Work, Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, Elvis Costello's Imposters, Gang of Youths and now Andrew Farris have knocked on her door wanting to collaborate with her. She set the mood for what was in store for the night, stripped, intimate, songs and stories.
Photos ©️ Jordan Newton
Andrew Farris was what you need for a Saturday night. Puns aside, at first glance at seeing Andrew come on stage, the first thing I thought was "this guy has performed at Wembley, what's he doing here?". Then I thought of the early days of INXS and Cronulla was extremely familiar to them in the early days supporting Midnight Oil in 1982 on Wanda Beach (10 minutes away from Brass Monkey) and later on in 1987 for Australian Made at Endeavour Field, Cronulla. So it would seem fitting to end the tour where Andrew's career began as a musician.
Photo ©️ Jordan Newton
He played a set full of highlights from his 40 year music career from being co-founder/songwritter of INXS, music producer and as solo artist with his self titled country/americana album that came out in 2021.
Setlist:
Come Midnight
Tears In The Rain
Love Makes The World
All The Stars Are Mine
Apache Pass
Someone For Everyone
Mystify (INXS Song)
Healing Stone (Yothu Yindi Cover)
Run Baby Run
Southern Cross Shines
Beautiful Girl (INXS Song)
Something Stronger
Need You Tonight (INXS Song)
She Has To Be Loved (Jenny Morris Cover)
Never Tear Us Apart (INXS Song)
(Ghost) Riders In The Sky (Stan Jones Cover) (Audience Request)
You Are My Rock
Don't Change (INXS Song)
Photo ©️ Jordan Newton
"I called this tour Songs & Stories, so I guess I gotta tell some stories aye" - Andrew Farris
Between each song, Andrew shared his the creative process, the experiences he witnessed and the people he had the honour of producing and recording for, in particular Yothu Yindi, Jenny Morris and most importantly his long time collaborator and best mate, Michael Hutchence.
Photo ©️ Jordan Newton
A highlight of his creative process of was how Andrew thought of the riff to "Need You Tonight". He had a Roland 707 drum machine to program a drum beat which became essential to the song. He was getting into a taxi to meet up with Michael in Hong Kong to see what new song ideas they had. Fate intervened and the iconic riff came into his head as soon as he got into the cab. He told the driver to wait a few minutes (turned into an hour) while he ran to his hotel room to record the riff on cassette. Sounds like an extensive cab ride, but it paid off in the end. As he was telling this story, he brought out a Roland 707 drum machine, played the beat as he started playing THE RIFF. Songs like Need You Tonight, Never Tear Us Apart and the rest of INXS' catalogue written by Farris & Hutchence helped them sell over 70 million records and become one of Australia's biggest bands of all time.
Photos ©️ Jordan Newton
Touring with Andrew was guitarist Travis New and the beautiful Ashleigh Leef on backing vocals, singing Jenny Morris's "She's Got To Be Loved" and dueting with Andrew on the Australian anthem "Never Tear Us Apart". Seeing Andrew perform the songs I grew up with was a masterclass in itself. Throughout the review, I've used the word intimate. That would be the best one word summary of the evening. A night of personal experience and story telling from a man that has globally impacted music, crossed borders, genres and generations to come.
Photos ©️ Jordan Newton
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