CX 23 Countdown 30-41

FEATURE BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH CX had trouble keeping away when far too many of the old bands we once worked with were dusted off and shown off with brand new production values. Julius Grafton went way down memory lane….. 30 CX 15 NOVEMBER 2006 pectacular it was, and value for money at almost four hours running Stime. Countdown kicked off at 7.30 with John Paul Young singing alone on the thrust stage and a bunch of dance students doing a 2006 version of the Countdown TV show audience - hands outreached, hair akimbo. Half way through ‘Yesterdays Hero’ the rear revolve produces the house band whose work will back most of the acts. There was the voice from the box, Gavin Wood who bantered effortlessly with host Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum. Molly was the reason Countdown was such a central part of the music industry for two decades, and he is the reason that Michael Gudinski’s Frontier Touring show worked so well. In the first fifteen minutes there were four acts rolled out, looking and sounding as good as the house band and a professional production could make them. Within the first half hour there was rock greatness with the likes of Choirboys showing that you can still manage a long career and play like you mean it. There was cheese, courtesy of the irrepressible Brian Mannix of the Unfunny X-Men, and there was deja-vu with Cheetah, the sister act that came on looking quite fabulous. Real star quality emerged early with Leo Sayer who managed to engage with a female member of the audience, undo Introducing the new WMS400 wireless system from her hair and lay her on the floor of the AKG, which combines ease of use and innovative stage for a kiss, without missing a line of technology with these additional key features and the ballad. This was quality stuff….. peripherals: Alex Smith also managed to connect with the audience and to conjure up the sense of how it was by singing Gary • 50 mW transmission power Frost’s smash hit for Moving Pictures, • Single AA battery for up to eight hours of operation ‘What About Me?’ Acute memories of Mr. Smith’s intense/egocentric stage • Environment scan and auto-programming persona were quickly revived this night. • Rehearsal mode By the second hour the audience had • Five application kits available been up on their feet and back to the chair eight times, and a form of first half closure arrived with Hush, complete with Never before has a high quality, high performance fire breathing dragons and an extra multichannel wireless system of this category been guitarist. It was a strange segment made more innovative, more affordable to purchase and messy by the improbability of reviving a operate, easier to use, or quicker to set up. band whose singer has perhaps had some problems (and hopefully dealt with them) and who really only had one The Future is Wireless. standout musician, Les Gock. They did what they set out to do, and all credit to them. Les rocked hard, but you would expect that from the guy who made a motza from Song Zu. Australia: New Zealand: Call 1300 13 44 00 or visit Call 0800 111 450 or visit www.audioproducts.com.au www.audioproducts.co.nz www.juliusmedia.com The Wolfgramm Sisters. Pic by Bob King. HALF TIME Michael Jackson and Grease In the foyer the punter feedback segments? Save the time and the was excellent and the merchandise money, I say! stand swamped with people fussing If you wanted a real musical over XXL T shirts and Sherbet CDs. moment there were plenty, for my Memo Gudinski: it was physically money it was Renee Geyer who good difficult to buy a show program. naturedly flounced her way through Strangely the junk food stands were her big pop hit ‘Say You Love Me’, a swamped as well, my girl Karen and I song she no longer performs at her noticed on the way in that a lot of the shows, then demolished the house audience seemed to equate nostalgia with ‘Man’s World’, made even with hotdogs and hot chips. mightier by Bruce Haymes on Part Two kicked off the gusto and keyboard. delivered the first bummer of the The house band were just mighty, night when James Reyne was hung made even more so by the three out to dry by a technical fault that startlingly good Wolfgramm sisters - should not have happened. He stood Kelly, Talei and Eliza - on backup strumming a dead acoustic for what vocals. Two guitars, two keyboards, seemed like minutes, telling the bass, drums played left handed by audience there were “problems with musical director Peter Luscombe and the backstage crew”, and glaring at two brass joined often by the the foldback desk. After about 30 omnipresent Wilbur Wilde made for a seconds of this, someone found the tight and almost note perfect band correct wireless frequency or patch who were mainly toddlers when the and the guitar was heard. Reyne acts they were backing first sung the didn’t recover, and messed up his songs. Australian Crawl medley. Swanee and John English had There were some ‘who were they’ presence and charisma, Grace Knight and even ‘why’ moments, with from Eurogliders looked and played performers who could have stayed the part, and four Chantoozies came home and contributed to a trimming on and reprised the girl band thing, of the show duration. Likewise I was looking great at the same time. unsure that the Countdown Dance Show standouts included Frankie J. Segment was worthwhile, the four Holden who played off the dancers on the tour were exceptional, aforementioned Wilbur Wilde, Joe but adding on thirty dance school kids Camileri made sax sexy again, and and doing Flashdance, Footloose, wow - Mondo Rock really did rock 32 CX 15 NOVEMBER 2006 www.juliusmedia.com "$$&4403*&4 1"3$"/4"/% FRPDX $03103"5& "6%*0 It’s conceivable that there could OOPHWDO ,QWURGXFLQJ3*6D even be a Countdown II with Men 4&44*0/ and got my personal band of the at Work plus Hunters and GH %DJV &DVHVPD night award. Collectors headlining. There are WRSURWHFW\RXUJHDU 5063*/( Eventually after Molly’s enough other acts still creaking around, like Radiators, Mentals, H 86$ Humdrum segment complete with XLWDU $PSV LQ WK % * QRZ 'RZQ 8QGHU the desk, after good banter and and perish the thought, Jimmy and 456%*0 bad, after a witty but sensitive The Boys. tribute to the singers who have left /RRN)DPLOLDU" */45"--"5*0/ us by a videotaped Red Symons, COUNTDOWN PSXQGHU :DWW'LJLWDOD the headline act cranked up and FHQWVZDWWNJ left me flat. I was a card carrying TOURING VIDEO )6/%3&%4 0' ÙÙ '-*1 *5 07&3 Sherbet fan, and have always been Blacksheep Productions supplied )*() 5&$) -*()5*/( &''&$54 '03 .03& */'0 ,17+,6,668( &RPSRQHQWV *XLWDU$PSV 0LFURSKRQHV 6SHDNHUV $PSOL¿HUV &RQQHFWRUV -XNHV 3RUWDEOH3$V 6WDQGV impressed by Daryl Braithwaite’s the complete video production &DVHV%DJV '-JHDU .DUDRNH 3URFHVVLQJ vocal delivery and style. solution for the show which It wasn’t that guitarist Harvey included cameras, replay, James spent the whole of the first projection, and a giant LED video song with his back to audience, screen with Blacksheep Project trying to coax sound out his amp. Manager Angelo Russo overseeing Probably it wasn’t even that the it all. second song of the short set was It was clear to producers from a forgettable flipside that was the beginning that video would included only because there was play an important part in the overall an entire film clip from the early design of the show. Show days that the band could play to Director Paul Drane worked as in sync. Director/Producer on the original It was all there, really good Countdown in the 1970s lighting by Hugh Taranto, supplied (incidentally, he also created by Chameleon with a crew of five. pioneering music film clips, A Vertec PA from Jands, mixed including AC/DCs infamous Long really well by Greg Rosman. Big Way to the Top), and as such he screen video with tight camera placed strong emphasis on the work from Black Sheep (see side visual element. When planning story). A great set designed by the event, Paul went to the ABC’s Otello Stolfo and built by ESS. archive to source a range of video But at the end, the very late end, clips. These were then compiled the headline band fell flat. They into a number of “breakers” and were then relegated to being just supporting clips which, when part of a show with almost 80 combined with a number of $"5"-0(6& performers, most of who came on generic graphic backgrounds to be stage for the obligatory and cheesy played behind songs, totalled over 100 video cues. These clips were 065/08 all star band closing segment, that 01: mainly seemed to comprise a lot played off Blacksheep’s hard drive 8 '03 " '3&& $ of skylarking and the stage system. Paul also specified 4 $"-- /0 managed ejection of Wilbur Wilde. A great night. Lots of fun. -NNJNTSENQSGHRRHFM HMXNTQKNB@K@QD@ $87+25,6(' '($/(5 *EXNTQKNB@KCD@KDQ CNDRM¢SRDKK*MCTRSQX (D@Q@RJVGXMNS 'LVWULEXWHGE\/6: 3K VDOHV#OVZRQOLQHFRPDX ZZZOVZFRPDX CX 15 NOVEMBER 2006 35 www.juliusmedia.com FEATURE cameras to cover the show live-to- D50 cameras were placed around allowed for any source to be screen. the venue – one camera sat in the displayed on any screen, and often A main feature of the set was the middle of the audience on a jib (to all four cameras were on-screen at large LED screen – Blacksheep allow for moves over the audience the same time so good supplied a 9.24m x 5.67m (11 x 9 when they stood up to dance communication was vital.

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