From U2 to Kylie Minogue and Elton John: Australian tours that stunned in 2019
Everyone from Elton John to Kylie Minogue and U2 visited our shores. These are the best – and worst – live shows. Plus: The concerts to look forward to in 2020.
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The rowdy buzz of chatter rises to a united uproar of cheers and applause as the houselights fade, the first notes ring out and the magic begins.
For millions of Australians – the latest figures available estimated 26.8 million tickets were issued in 2018 – a concert is more than the experience of just listening their favourite song or album.
It offers an opportunity for connection and escapism, and courtesy of the camera phone, a memory which resonates far longer than the trip home after the house lights come back up.
Hey, studies even suggest regularly going to live music adds nine years to your life.
Australia was blessed with hundreds of great live moments in 2019.
My pick for the concert of the year was U2’s mammoth Joshua Tree shows.
“Only musicians know the spell to shrink a stadium concert into an intimate communal experience between a band and tens of thousands of fans and U2 have been masters of that magic for decades now,” I posted after witnessing the tour kick-off.
The year began with A Conversation with Nick Cave, an entirely different take on what constitutes a concert. And it may have been one of the most emotional and connecting gigs of 2019.
“Perhaps the biggest clue as to why he has undertaken this non-scripted, freewheeling conversation with his ardent admirers, interspersed with truly mesmerising and unique performances of his songs at the piano, came when he was asked about how he was able to find beauty out of the tragedy of his son Arthur’s death in 2015,” I wrote after the show.
Our pop queen Kylie Minogue married cowgirl boots with her sequins for the Golden national tour in March, which kicked off in Sydney just after Mardi Gras.
The well-constructed pop show which embraced the Nashville influence on Golden saw Minogue showed off her inner Dixie Chick meets Vegas cabaret pop star with the well-choreographed show.
“She is so sweetly generous to her adoring crowd that taking a breather to sit back and have Kylie share sunshine with her lovers – with chats and shout-outs to audience members she has scouted on Instagram – is endearing rather than as momentum-crushing as that typical interaction interlude was during a few international A-list concerts last year,” I wrote in my review.
While 2018 delivered almost every pop star on the planet to our arenas and stadiums, in 2019 the genre was eclipsed on the big stages by heritage rockers and farewell tours.
Phil Collins kicked off the year with an enjoyable romp down memory lane, albeit from a stool placed centrestage because of myriad health problems.
Later in February, minds were blown by the high octane energy levels, freewheeling setlists and musical excellence of funk rap survivors Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“You want energy from some survivors of the rigours of the long rock game? Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith and their guitarist since 2007 Josh Klinghoffer, bounce and jump and pogo and sweat and lost their proverbial in the first three songs at a rate which would exhaust their younger peers over a whole set. Welcome to fit and 50s, funk rock style and it’s a goal,” read my review.
Despite stating their touring days were over after the death of Glenn Frey, theEaglesenlisted his son Deacon and country star Vince Gill for another lap around the country, reaffirming to their hundreds of thousands of fans in Australia that no one does harmonies in the rock world like they do.
Well, except, for Fleetwood Mac. They also brought on fresh voices with Neil Finn and Mike Campbell for their joyous farewell romp around the country in August.
Elton John kicked off his three-month long final victory lap of Australia in November with an emotionally-charged three-hour romp through one of the finest songbooks of the contemporary music era.
For those who like to watch middle-aged men dance like nobody is watching, it was exhilarating – and a tad amusing at times – to venture to Underworld orChemical Brothers shows which were sensory overload sessions combining sensational production with the most revered electronic music catalogues of the past two decades.
And if you needed any further evidence of the phenomenal success of Billie Eilish, her euphoric Australian shows were a lesson in how to do so much with pure talent and a fierce bond with your fanbase.
At the same time the world’s biggest international artists were filling Australian arenas, homegrown hip hop heroes Hilltop Hoods confirmed their status as the biggest “band” in the land with their record-breaking Great Expanse tour.
“Their power to entertain and multi-generational appeal was obvious at the Sydney show with the front row, with a wide demographic of fans from grey-haired fiftysomethings and young families hanging out with more seasoned moshpit dwellers in their 20s,” I wrote.
There were so many Australian artists in 2019 who stepped up from clubs to the big theatres and medium-sized arenas this year courtesy of their Triple J-fuelled fanbases including Allday, Ruel, Troye Sivan, the Amity Affliction, Amy Shark, Peking Duk, Tash Sultana, Middle Kids, Hayden James, Lime Cordiale, Jack River, Meg Mac, the Teskey Brothers and Stella Donnelly.
Any time G Flip or Tones and I graced a festival or concert stage, they united an entire audience in song and pogo-ing.
A strawpoll of fellow gig pigs nominated Childish Gambino, The Cure, The Flaming Lips, Jack White’s Saboteurs, Iggy Pop, John Prine and the film music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis among the most memorable gigs.
Noteworthy for all the wrong reasons was Janet Jackson’s polarising headlining set on the recent RnB Fridays Live tour with many fans frustrated with her lip-synching and only hour-long performance.
And then there was the silencing of Liam Gallagher at his recent Melbourne concert when the power was cut-off as his show hit the dot of curfew.
It was also a remarkable year for the amount of tours which didn’t happen, most notably the cancellations ofKISSand Metallica due to the ill-health of their respective frontmen Paul Stanley and James Hetfield.
Little Mixcancelled twice, allegedly due to recording commitments.
The R.Kelly tour that never was finally got officially cancelled, with the r&b artist unlikely to have been let into the country anyway considering the raft of sexual assault and related charges in the US.
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CONCERTS NOT TO MISS IN 2020
Pop force Lizzo is already anticipated to bring one of the concerts of the year in January when she performs at the FOMO festival and two side shows in Sydney and Melbourne.
Queen and Adam Lambert will hit our stadiums in February, while Michael Buble will charm his legion of loyal fans with his arena tour that month.
The rock might of Billy Idol, Alice Cooper and Tool also arrives in Australia in February while Lenny Kravitz and Iron Maiden have also booked arena tours.
Another anticipated residency will be the return of Solange Knowles to the Sydney Opera House in January while British singer songwriter Laura Marling will return to play under the sails in March.
New Order’s tour in March sold out in a heartbeat, while other internationals with tickets in demand include Lewis Capaldi, Bastille, JoJo Siwa, A-ha with Rick Astley, Stormzy and Rex Orange County, The National, City and Colour, Patti Smith and Bon Iver.
Cold Chisel kick off their mammoth outdoor Blood Moon tour, which may be their last big run around the country, on New Year’s Eve.
And later in the year, James Blunt, Rod Stewart and Simple Minds have locked in their visits down under.
Tours we expect to be announced for 2020 include Tame Impala, the Rolling Stones, Harry Styles, Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine and Bruce Springsteen.
Originally published as From U2 to Kylie Minogue and Elton John: Australian tours that stunned in 2019
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