Concert Reviews
The 2002 Australian Concert Tour
David Cassidy Live in Wollongong
November 7th 2002.
Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Australia
By : Philip
The concert was held at the Entertainment Centre. Fans were arriving in droves by the time I got there at 7.40pm with my 17 year old son Nicholas. We were later joined by my sister-in-law Gail and her husband Michael. It was so great to be sharing this experience with family.
Being a good sport, I had easily convinced Nicholas to wear my black Partridge "C'Mon Get Happy" t-shirt (it doesn't fit me anymore). It was a good choice because people kept flocking to him to admire the shirt and ask where he'd got it from.
The atmosphere was electric. EVERYONE was so excited and so open and friendly - we were a community of fans. I met so many lovely people that night.
There was a warm-up act. I can't remember her name, which is a shame because she was excellent. She sang a host of 70s disco oriented songs and had everyone cheering and many up on their feet dancing. By the time she left the stage, excitement was at fever pitch. I estimate there were about 2000 people there and the auditorium was only half full but everyone present were die-hard David fans. There were groups of fans right up the back who were singing and screaming "David we love you!!" even before he was on stage.
When the lights went down, the place went berserk. Fans screaming and cheering. The band came on and played their overture and suddenly David appeared. I was sitting front row centre and all of a sudden I could no longer see the stage as fans surged forward to get close to David. I didn't mind too much as this was all part of the experience. After a couple of numbers, Gail, Michael, Nicholas and I got up and joined in too. It was a total blast. We were no more than six feet away from David for the entire show!
David was wearing a pale green satin shirt and black pants and looked terrific. His voice was in absolute fine form. I can't remember the order of songs but the format was not too different to that on his forthcoming Live DVD. The set included a blend of then and now. The audience received each song enthusiastically with waves of screams. He sang most of the big hits and loved it when we sang along with him. It's hard to say which songs received the biggest reaction: probably "Cherish", "Point Me In The Direction Of Albuquerque" and "Summer Days".
David played with the audience and gave everyone who could get near him plenty of opportunities to touch his hand. He spoke to the audience throughout the set, saying how much he appreciated our support and what a fantastic experience it was to be back in Australia after so long. He encouraged everyone to get up on their feet and have a good time - and we certainly did that.
The band were superb too. Excellent musicians and the back-up singers were fantastic.
The biggest screams for the night were on a couple of occasions when David held up 70s pictures of himself that fans had brought along. All the women screamed at once and loudly. It was ear piercing and David loved it!
I have to say that there was quite a strong showing of men at the concert. While the audience was predominantly female, there were enough guys there to surprise me. After reading reviews of the overseas concerts, I was expecting to be one of a small few. Not so. And like me, they were all up on their feet having a blast throughout too.
All too soon the show was over. When David left the stage the first time, everyone just stamped, screamed and cheered for what seemed like ages until he came back for an encore. David seemed genuinely delighted with the reaction of his Aussie/NZ fans and we were certainly delighted with him.
I totally enjoyed this experience of a lifetime. And so did my son. I was so pleased to be able to share such a significant event for me with him. He thought David was excellent and the band awesome, as did Gail and Michael. As I write this, the best thing is the anticipation of the next few concerts I am going to see - Melbourne, Newcastle and Sydney - where I will be joined by my wife and other great friends. So much to look forward to, so many more memories to create and cherish.
I fulfilled a life long ambition by being at this concert. So many people I spoke to that night said the same. We'd all been waiting since we were teenagers to see David perform live in concert. And here he was in our own neck of the woods doing exactly that.
I hope I have managed to convey some of the excitement. David IS the great artist we believe him to be and I'm so happy that I have now had the chance to experience that for myself.
Philip (Sydney)
