LIVE: ICEHOUSE – Fremantle Prison, 27 Jan, 2019

Shane | 29 January 2019 | Reply

LIVE: ICEHOUSE – Fremantle Prison, 27 Jan, 2019
Fremantle Prison, Sunday, 27 January, 2019
Reviewed by Kevin Curran
Photography by Damien Crocker

It’s great to see a show in a venue that is out of the ordinary, and the historic Fremantle Prison hosted this Australia Day weekend gig. Aussie legends Icehouse probably have the most iconic Australia Day song behind Men At Work’s Down Under in Great Southern Land, and being down at the fireworks on any given Australia Day you would be hard pressed not to hear this song.

I didn’t get to see support act Bachelor Girl due to having my own gig beforehand, so apologies to them, but the sold out show – with tickets around the 130-mark, quite some feat by an Australian band – seemed impressed.

Opening with Icehouse from their debut record, it was hits from then on with Hey Little Girl, Crazy and Electric Blue all coming out early and getting a lot of people out of their plastic chairs to dance. Electric Blue was my favourite song when I was four years old on a side note, and many others obviously had their own special memories to relive.

You kind of forget how many hits the band have. Frontman Iva Davies is in his 60’s now, but still boasts the same tone and timbre he did when he had the raddest mullet in Australia. The sound for the show was exceptional so big credit goes to the soundman, as every note was incredibly clear and very enjoyable.

[Show picture list]

Don’t Believe Anymore was delivered perfectly, this is a song I did not realise was theirs, and was impressed how the band seem to be able to sound like they did all those years ago. Some bands from the same time try to add modern touches to the sound but icehouse just capture what they recorded and deliver that live. There is a reason why people connect to these songs and it’s almost like a nostalgia kick, so it’s great that they don’t mess with that.

On keyboards, vocals and guitar, and the youngest guy in the band, Michael Paynter had his chance to shine as he came from behind the keys and played some acoustic and vocals with guitarist Paul Gildea (who, by the way, had amazing guitar tone all night).

It was an interesting choice for him to sing main vocals for the hit Man Of Colours, with frontman Davies taking a break to join later on the oboe. Don’t get me wrong – Michael is an amazing singer and has previously worked on TV show The Voice. The guy can sing his ass off, but with people connecting to the song, I think a few people wanted to hear it the way they remember it, ie with Davies singing. Having said that, a lot of people seemed blown away by Michael’s amazing range and talent and he nailed it.

Great Southern Land brought everyone off their seat, then finishing the set off with We Can Get Together, is a double that you wouldn’t even think the same band wrote. It’s testament to the progression the band made through their career.

After a short exit the band returned to encore with a T-rex cover in Bang a Gong then closing proceedings with Nothing Too Serious. It was a night full of iconic Aussie songs by an iconic Aussie Band on Australia’s weekend, very slick.