From: Savage n' fun Aussies bring back sounds
of the '80s
By Lisa Wilton, Calgary Sun
There's not a lot to miss about the '80s: Bad hair,
bad clothes, bad heavy metal.
Yet, there's one thing sorely lacking in the "sophisticated"
'90s -- the pop concert.
I'm talking about the million-dollar light show,
sequin-encrusted backup singers, gyrating dance moves and, above all, melodrama.
Thank God for Savage Garden. The Australian duo of
Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones have all the ingredients -- minus the sequins
-- making even Duran Duran pale by comparison.
Appearing before a screaming, sold-out crowd of about
4,000 at the Max Bell Centre last night, Savage Garden took the stage amidst
dense stage fog and white show lights.
Eliciting delighted cries from thousands of teenage
girls, singer Hayes, in a black T-shirt, grey cargo pants and Olympus.
He was soon bounding across the stage, pointing at
audience members and showing off his pretty dubious dance moves.
Savage Garden's synthesizer-heavy sound resonated
nicely throughout the venue and the five-piece backing band -- featuring
two female backup singers -- were tight and made their presence known,
rather than being faceless shadows. The backup singers in particular added
a welcome dynamic to the show.
Performing most of the songs off their million-selling
self-titled debut, Savage Garden also threw in a few bars of The Four Tops'
I Can't Help Myself, Steve Winwood's Higher Love and En Vogue's Free Your
Mind.
The band's latest single, Breaky Shakey (Ok, so
she doesn't know that it is Break Me Shake Me... someone needs to go back
to journalism school don't ya think?), allowed a charismatic Hayes
to really let go and proved to be one of the favorites of I Want You.
Despite a few cheesy Wham! moments, Savage Garden's
high-energy performance was entertaining and fun.
And really, what more do you need from a pop concert?
