Saturday, March 05, 2005
Sydney: Review
# posted
by head blogger @ 4:41 pm
Cher,Entertainment Centre
Reviewed by Bernard Zuel
March 5, 2005
"The gayest show in town" ... Cher puts on a sparkling performance for her loyal fans. Photo: Domino Postiglione
Cher, Entertainment Centre, March 3
Riddle me this, Batman. Let's say you attend a Super 12 match this weekend, having paid top dollar for the privilege, and come expecting an 80-minute game as normal. Instead, the players intermittently appear on the field, for less than half a match in total, and the rest of the time is filled with the big screen playing footage from previous games and on-field entertainment is provided by marching bands and gymnasts.
Methinks you might be a tad annoyed and even exploited. Certainly it's the kind of thing a certain former top rugby coach might rail against in one of his on-air sermons about the folks from Struggle Street being treated with contempt.
Now let's say you pay hundreds of dollars to see one of your favourite performers and get a 90-minute show in which there are only 15 musical numbers - one of them a medley of four songs. The songs rarely go beyond three minutes and even then for a number of them she isn't on stage for the whole song. The long, long periods between appearances are filled with footage from old TV shows and dancers and acrobats on stage.
Wouldn't you feel cheated just a little bit? Wouldn't you be demanding something worth the money? Oh no, not this audience. Up on their feet they were - including a certain former top rugby coach - lapping it up and demanding an encore.
And it had started promisingly, too. Well, once you got past the traducing of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, which began the night as Cher was revealed descending on a giant chandelier, dressed in ermine and glitter. In a long monologue Cher was wry and amusing, declaring this the "gayest show in town" and gently mocking herself.
And when the next song (several minutes of on-screen filler later) featured a high camp elephant out of whose backside Cher emerged, it began to feel like a cross between Mardi Gras and an old school variety show.
Then she didn't speak for another hour, her foghorn singing voice began to grate.
Her best material - Half Breed; Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves; Dark Lady - was wrapped up and thrown away in a medley and all the time the most enjoyable fare was coming from the screen.
But hey, what's the problem? Great show, eh? Fabulous, darling. So much glitter. So much movement. More. More.
Cher plays again on Monday and on March 18
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
__________________________________
Cher Farewell Tour Australia 2005: 12 shows, 21 days, 5 cities! Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena - 26, 27 February & 1 March; Sydney's Entertainment Centre - 3, 4, 7 March; Newcastle's Entertainment Centre - 9 March; Brisbane's Entertainment Centre - 11 & 12 March; Adelaide's Entertainment Centre - 15 & 16 March; and the Australian Finale at Sydney's Entertainment Centre 18 March.
Cher,Entertainment Centre
Reviewed by Bernard Zuel
March 5, 2005
"The gayest show in town" ... Cher puts on a sparkling performance for her loyal fans. Photo: Domino Postiglione
Cher, Entertainment Centre, March 3
Riddle me this, Batman. Let's say you attend a Super 12 match this weekend, having paid top dollar for the privilege, and come expecting an 80-minute game as normal. Instead, the players intermittently appear on the field, for less than half a match in total, and the rest of the time is filled with the big screen playing footage from previous games and on-field entertainment is provided by marching bands and gymnasts.
Methinks you might be a tad annoyed and even exploited. Certainly it's the kind of thing a certain former top rugby coach might rail against in one of his on-air sermons about the folks from Struggle Street being treated with contempt.
Now let's say you pay hundreds of dollars to see one of your favourite performers and get a 90-minute show in which there are only 15 musical numbers - one of them a medley of four songs. The songs rarely go beyond three minutes and even then for a number of them she isn't on stage for the whole song. The long, long periods between appearances are filled with footage from old TV shows and dancers and acrobats on stage.
Wouldn't you feel cheated just a little bit? Wouldn't you be demanding something worth the money? Oh no, not this audience. Up on their feet they were - including a certain former top rugby coach - lapping it up and demanding an encore.
And it had started promisingly, too. Well, once you got past the traducing of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, which began the night as Cher was revealed descending on a giant chandelier, dressed in ermine and glitter. In a long monologue Cher was wry and amusing, declaring this the "gayest show in town" and gently mocking herself.
And when the next song (several minutes of on-screen filler later) featured a high camp elephant out of whose backside Cher emerged, it began to feel like a cross between Mardi Gras and an old school variety show.
Then she didn't speak for another hour, her foghorn singing voice began to grate.
Her best material - Half Breed; Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves; Dark Lady - was wrapped up and thrown away in a medley and all the time the most enjoyable fare was coming from the screen.
But hey, what's the problem? Great show, eh? Fabulous, darling. So much glitter. So much movement. More. More.
Cher plays again on Monday and on March 18
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
__________________________________
Cher Farewell Tour Australia 2005: 12 shows, 21 days, 5 cities! Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena - 26, 27 February & 1 March; Sydney's Entertainment Centre - 3, 4, 7 March; Newcastle's Entertainment Centre - 9 March; Brisbane's Entertainment Centre - 11 & 12 March; Adelaide's Entertainment Centre - 15 & 16 March; and the Australian Finale at Sydney's Entertainment Centre 18 March.
