The Enmore Theatre Sunday 17th December 2017
It was with great pride that Iva Davies announced to the adoring crowd at the Enmore Theatre that Icehouse had just broken the record for the most sold out shows at this iconic venue. Having played 6 shows here in 2017, it is not hard to see why this record belongs to them. Great punchy pop songs delivered with a band in fine form and Iva in fine voice. The love for Icehouse is still there with Australian audiences some forty years since the birth of many of these songs.
This show was particularly interesting as Iva Davies took time to explain the origin of many of the early hits and it was intriguing to learn of his angst of co-writing 'Electric Blue' with John Oates (from Hall and Oates fame). I was also suitably impressed to learn of Iva’s love for “The Angels” and his attempt to write an “Angels” type song; 'Fatman' was a funny story that had the whole crowd engaged with him.
Songs from most of their albums made an appearance throughout the night but it was ‘the Kingdom’ from “Man of Colors” that excited me the most as that has always been my favorite Icehouse song. It now appears that many others have also been requesting for that song to be included in the live set.
A two hour show with hit after hit made for an exceptional evening with patrons encouraged to get on their feet. Once they were on their feet most did not sit down again, as the songs just get under your skin and you can’t but help move your feet. 'Great Southern Land', 'Hey Little Girl' and 'Can’t help myself' were crowd favorites with Marc Bolan’s 'Get it on' thrown into the set for good measure.
This concert was a great way to see out 2017. It is hard to believe that Cold Chisel, The Angels, Midnight Oil and Icehouse have all played recent shows and some forty years later still sound as good as ever. Australia has many world class acts, and I for one, am so grateful that they continue to deliver.
Adrian Alders
