(Pic: John Didlick, Barry Thomson and Marion Loudon)
Groovy, baby! (Review by Billy Suter, courtesy of The Mercury)
This year marks the 40th anniversary of an American event that went down as one of the world’s most legendary musical experiences of all time. It was, of course, the three days of love and peace that was Woodstock, the music festival which, held in 1969, from August 15 to 18, on a 240ha dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York, saw performances by 32 popular musicians.
The crowd was unprecedented – nearly half a million concertgoers assembled on that farm to experience history in the making.
It lead to the release of a live album, a successful documentary and, now, this very enjoyable Durban tribute show which, produced and directed by Gary McKenzie, fondly recalls and salutes the iconical event.
Ebullient lead vocalists Marion Loudon and John Didlick, together again for the first time since their The King and Queen, seen at this same venue, won a Mercury Durban Theatre Award as best musical revue, appear in a parade of groovy hippie gear co-ordinated by Megan McKenzie.
They are backed by a fine band headed by keyboardist-singer and musical director Dawn Selby. On bass we have animated charmer Lloyd de Gier, seasoned pro Mali Sewell is on drums, and Shaun Dragt and popular and versatile Barry Thomson are on guitars.
Performing on a stage dressed with cutouts of flowers and peace signs, and where swirling lights throw changing, moving patterns on two screens stretched, skin-like, over a fairylight backdrop, the cast dips into all the expected favourites.
While scenes from the actual Woodstock festival are occasionally beamed on to two large square screens on either side of the stage, we are treated to classics from acts as diverse as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Grand Funk Railroad and The Mamas and the Papas. We are also served songs that had nothing to do with Woodstock but reflect the era when carefree living, as well as tie-dye shirts and kaftans, headbands, flare-pants and sandals, were all the rage.
The show opens with the Matthews Southern Comfort Band hit, Woodstock, and Scott McKenzie’s If You’re Going To San Francisco. It goes on to offer such early highlights as Thomson and Didlick harmonising through Mrs Robinson (very good, in spite of botching the lyrics a bit on press night) and Sewell taking lead vocals for The Zombies favourite Time of the Season.
Thomson steals the first half limelight, however, with his plaintive rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine, in which he’s accompanied only by himself on keyboards.
The second half is even better, opening with the catchy Country Joe Fish rag, I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die, going on to offer Richie Havens’s Freedom, and featuring Loudon at her best with Janis Joplin’s Me and Bobby McGee and also a medley of Baez’s Joe Hill and Swing Low Sweet Chariot.
It’s when the team starts to rock hard, with Santana’s Soul Sacrifice and a medley of hits by The Who, that the crowd starts really whooping with delight, reaching a high point when Thomson plays guitar with his teeth, then behind his neck, during the smoking Jimi Hendrix sequence, incorporating Voodoo Chile and Star Spangled Banner.
Also featuring songs by, among others, The Byrds, Louis Armstrong, Canned Heat, Joe Cocker, Petula Clark, The Box Tops, Joni Mitchell, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Sha-Na-Na, Woodstock Remembered is being presented until May 17.
Tickets R190 Wednesday to Saturday (R165 on Tuesdays as well as for lunch shows on Sundays). These prices include a two-course meal offering a starter choice of prawn salad, soup or feta brulee. Mains choices are butternut and feta ravioli, cannelloni, grilled sole (very nice) and lamb shank (always a hit). To book, or for more information, contact 031 765 4197. – Billy Suter
Posts
