Icehouse Brisbane review: ’80s synth-rock extravaganza a feast for the senses

Iva Davies’ prolific songwriting is as evidenced by the songs that didn’t make the cut at Icehouse’s Brisbane concert as by those that did.

No one represents ’80s Australian new-wave synth-rock quite like Icehouse.

And their Covid-delayed concert at Brisbane’s Riverstage on Saturday night was a feast for the senses, from the dual/duelling keyboardists to the stage lighting that bathed the audience in hues of purple, blue and yellow, to the big-screen lyric videos and radical edits of the band’s old-school film clips.

For most fans Iva Davies is Icehouse – just as well, considering he’s the only original member remaining. But these are his songs, after all.

And his tones were as dulcet as ever, “even though I’m really old and I’ve been doing this a long time”.

The next-longest-running member is Paul Wheeler, drummer of 37 years.

And that’s not to discount the talents of the more recent additions. When Michael Paynter isn’t playing a mean keyboard or guitar, he’s providing guest vocals for Touch the Fire or Man of Colours (on which Davies mans the oboe).

And Hugo Lee played up a storm on the sax, pointing it at the heavens, illuminated smoke swirling around him in the finest ’80s tradition for numerous solos, notably on Don’t Believe Anymore.

The big screen was emblazoned with Aussie vistas and animated dot paintings for Great Southern Land, the unofficial nation anthem whose 40th anniversary last year was the pretext for this tour.

Mercifully there were no Dubhouse versions of their hits as at past concerts (sorry Iva, we prefer the original and best renditions).

To give you an idea of how prolific Davies’ songwriting has been, there was no room in the hit-filled setlist for Street Cafe, Dusty Pages, Taking the Town, My Obsession, Baby You’re So Strange or Cross the Border.

Support act Eskimo Joe made it an extra icy event, with frontman Kav Temperley joining Davies to close the main set with We Can Get Together.

Their encore included a cover version – appropriate, Davies said, as they started out as a covers band.

“When we were first ‘doin’ stuff’ we were signed to a management company and we had two ‘big brother’ bands and we were the apprentices and we learnt a lot and they were great friends and great help to us, and one of the bands was Cold Chisel.

“The other band was this band,” he said, before launching into Marseilles by The Angels and the late great Doc Neeson – dispensing with the keyboards for the hardest-rocking song they’d played all night.

Setlist: Icehouse, Uniform, Fatman, Electric Blue, Hey Little Girl, Mr Big, Crazy, No Promises, Touch the Fire, Man of Colours, Don’t Believe Anymore, Love in Motion, Great Southern Land, Can’t Help Myself, We Can Get Together. Encore: Marseilles, Nothing Too Serious.