Since 1973 Leo Sayer has wowed audiences with his own brand of rock-tinged pop. Establishing himself as a singer of wide range, his dominance of the British charts would see him enjoy success in every decade since. Initially Australia was like a second home as he has toured here many times. It wasn’t until 2005 he decided to call it his permanent home and in 2009 he officially became one of its citizens. People have always loved Leo and he’s loved them in return and seeing this show it wasn’t difficult to see why.
Appearing as part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival on Thursday 16 June at 6.30pm, I sat down at Table 2 at the Festival Centre’s Dunstan Playhouse and waited to enjoy what would be a great performance. I noted there seemed a broad audience with a few young children sitting near me. This could be due his recent participation with The Wiggles when they did their own unique version of ‘You Make Me Feel like Dancing’ – showing how diverse he can be. The place was packed and all seemed enthusiastic to be there. I could see five Festival Centre staff standing by the back doors looming over everyone who constantly, and somewhat aggressively, asked people to stop taking photos. The ones I took were done at the very end of the performance, with Leo, his band, and his still massive head of hair in all their glory!
At exactly 6.30 the band came on and Leo Sayer came on stage. Although a bit ‘fuller’ in looks than most may remember him, this disguised his unbridled energy and panache. He seemed in great spirits and genuinely happy to be there and immediately launched into ‘More Than I Can Say’, which sounded fantastic when done in ‘cabaret style’. He then moved onto a recent song called ‘Poplife’ which showed his gift for mixing humour within the music. As he started I marvelled at how strong his vocals were and how forceful he punched out the lyrics. He was ably supported throughout by a tight six piece band consisting of a bass guitarist, trumpeter and saxophonist on the left, a drummer in the centre and another guitarist and pianist on the right. Although occasionally the sound was a little too over-amplified to fully do justice to the songs, it didn’t spoil too much from the continual enjoyment.
Almost straight away he mentioned he was only allotted a one hour timeslot and couldn’t do all of the songs he wanted. He said he had 35 songs on his list to do but would provide the main hits he knew the audience wanted to hear. I found this a rather unfair restriction played upon him as it does him and his audience a dis-service. One would have thought an artist of his standing would have been given a decent time allocation and speaks of poor planning on the Festival organiser’s part. He seemed to take it with great humour though and he continually checked his watch in ‘mock urgent’ fashion and cracked gags on ‘how they wanted him to nick off so they can get someone else on’! To his credit he was good to his word and breathlessly pushed out as many songs as he could which certainly endeared him further with the audience. He ensured he had a flask of tea onstage which he sipped from occasionally and had an I-pad in front of him to check which songs to do next – proving he could keep up with the latest technology!
With such a restriction placed on him, the hits came out thick and fast. ‘The Show Must Go on’, ‘Thunder In My Heart’, ‘Moonlighting’, ‘Orchard Road’ were all dynamically rendered and proved how personal some were. Many of them weren’t just throw-away pop tunes but a chronicle of various events he’s been through over the years. Each clearly meant something to him as he sang them with an emotion one hears little of these days. Which is remarkable given he commented on how he had just gotten back from Sri Lanka and was feeling a bit jet-lagged. If that’s the case then I’d hate to see what he’s like when he’s ‘normal’! In between songs he told snippets of why they were written – such as the one for ‘Saturday Girl’, which was inspired by a friend who had fallen in love with a 16 year old girl he knew was out of his reach. A good example of how close to his heart his songs were was heard with ‘One Man Band’, as it gave an overview of how he felt being a solo artist but how he enjoyed the freedom it gave him.
It was interesting seeing his presentation of these tunes. Very theatrical in approach, he really wanted his audience to be part of the show – as if he was replicating a little of the spirit of old vaudeville productions. This was clearly seen when he launched into ‘You make me feel like dancing’. He asked everyone to clap their hands and then walked off the stage and into the audience itself! He ran around room like a mad-man, stood on a chair and genuinely clowned around with those dazzled by his energy. Everyone really got into this fun mood and he seemed to draw much from their enthusiasm. This proved he was a showman in the purest sense and gave as much to the songs as he was given from those listening to them. He told some good small stories of his time in Australia such as when on his first visit in 1974 he appeared at the Apollo Stadium in Adelaide. He said a group of teenage girls came up to him and called him a ‘spunk’, which he didn’t know what it meant but soon became used to the Australian lingo!
A surprise inclusion was the Cliff Richard song ‘Dreaming’. I wondered why and he revealed he actually wrote it, which I never knew, and then launched into an amusing impersonation of Cliff as he claimed both tried to battle it out to sing it! This was all done with good humour and he sang it in a much rockier style and showed how good the lyrics were. Again this was an excellent example of his ability to craft a fine tune and how it could with-stand many interpretations. In the entire show he enjoyed some good banter with his band – in one instance he pretended to clean a Perspex screen separating the piano player from the others and even stopped two songs mid-way through just to catch them off guard! They fed off his energy with skill and played around with his off the cuff gags with ease. Interestingly there wasn’t one particular ‘sound’ which stood out – all the musical instruments were used in full force and blended in perfectly.
An all too short show ended when he sang ‘When I need you’ as an encore. Like the others before it, it showed how great his collection of songs are and what an amazing voice he still has. A person of high wit and ‘professional’ without any of the negative connotations that term has, he ensured the restrictive time-slot didn’t deter him from providing a great experience. For that he is to be admired and it proved that for such an ever-green and energetic performer, the show will continue for many years to come.
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