In a filled Capitol Theatre on Friday night in Brisbane, Deb, Willy and some new faces belted out a well balanced mix of tracks from the latest masterpiece, My 3rd Husband, and one or two songs from String of Pearls, Bitch Epic, Do Re Mi and Ultrasound.
The tone of the new album was captured magnificently live although it was plain to see that only a handful of fans had heard the album.
Having seen Deb live half a dozen times previously in Canberra, only performing with Willy and Bill (bassist – not on this tour), this full band sound was a new experience for me. While Deb’s vocals were stronger and more powerful than ever, the lyrics were sometimes lost in the oddly shaped venue. Not so when She and Willy returned to the stage for “String of Pearls” and the song that wrenches at everyone’s heart, “White Roses”.
The most entrancing tune of the night had to be “Bag of Sweets”. Having been tempted with the lyrics on this Web site for some months now, it was fascinating to hear the album version. To see Deb perform it live was the most sexy, seductive and totally enchanting performance I’ve ever seen.
If you’re planning to see Deb on this tour, make sure you grab the cd before you go so that you can really be involved in the whole show.
I’ve never seen Deb with so much energy or radiance in concert and she was constantly showered with shouts of “You’re beautiful!” Despite her insistence that it wasn’t her birthday, one section of the crowd and kept breaking into hearty renditions of “Happy Birthday”.
The same section of the crowd was hanging out to hear “Will you miss me when you’re sober” but their requests were lost in the noisy rabble.
The one downside for the group was at the end of the show when some idiot, in a mad rush for Deb memoribillia, stole the keyboardists charts. Having only been with Willy and Deb for four weeks, the band gelled particularly well but poor keyboardist was having kittens over his missing script. If you’re out there GIVE IT BACK!!! – buy the cd instead…
It was plain to see that Deb’s been sorely missed and I trust that we won’t be starved of live shows for another two years.
Sarah Groube
The Capitol, Brisbane, 31 Oct 1997
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