The old Southport RSL Club on the Queensland's Gold Coast did a rebranding job back in 2022 and became SOPO.
Its entertainment showroom on the upper floor is voluminous and equipped with pro sound and lighting permanently installed.
Michael Paynter, semi-fresh off the back of the national announcement of his involvement in the John Farnham Musical project, is touring with his own project.
To be fair, Michael, whose industrial-strength voice could pop warehouse windows at will, is no stranger to the wider Australian music scene.
His involvement with Iva Davies and ICEHOUSE, Jimmy Barnes, The Veronicas, Delta Goodrem and even John Farnham himself is much more well known than his own solo musical portfolio – the one supporting Miley Cyrus, Hall & Oates, The Script, Seal and Vanessa Amorosi.
More recently, Paynter held the role as Jesus in the live theatrical spectacular of Jesus Christ Superstar singing alongside Mahalia Barnes ('Mary').
Michael Paynter - image © Michelle Cop
This November, as the Australian superstar John Farnham, Paynter could have had a dilemma looming except that – it would seem – he is taking wise career advice to avoid the labels of 'tribute' and 'impersonator' that might stick to him after the run of gruelling musicals are over; being forever typecast as 'that guy'.
Tonight's show (20 March) presented the awesome talent package this 40 year old actually has. The tour title should be more aligned to something like 'Michael Paynter's Personal Australian Songbook'.
He reflected on them as meaningful, as passages of time. Some with personal involvement, others as a muso-to-muso respect for the clever composition and their subterranean deep meaning, which after living years of real life, it finally hit him, like 'Buses And Trains' from Bachelor Girl; and yes, he wanted to do it again.
His treatment of 'Amazing', Alex Lloyd's 2001 classic, was a stunning example of Michael's passion for his favourites.
As an intimate show, it was simply him onstage. A small amount of lighting. A touch of fog and the occasional slap of echo or the smooth blend of reverb. He moved from his Nord keyboard to a couple of Maton guitars regularly.
It was surprising and yet refreshing to hear his nervousness with his in-between chats. It was genuinely 'all of him' wanting to communicate to 'all of us'.
We were approached by patrons wanting to know if we knew the identity of the surprise guest/s. By eliminating a couple, including his good friend Irwin Thomas aka Jack Jones, I bet the photographer two cappuccinos on Mahalia Barnes.
A not unreasonable assumption with the nearby Twin Towns connection, I would have thought. Anyway, not to dwell on this, I lost – and onstage came The Veronicas, with wild applause.
Michael, Lisa and Jessica sang 'After The Fall' – one of Michael's originals – and the absolute crowd fave, 'Pleasure And Pain'.
Michael Paynter & The Veronicas - image © Michelle Cop
His choices 'To The Moon And Back' (Savage Garden), ICEHOUSE's 'Crazy', and Wolfmother's 'Joker And The Thief' amongst others were also terrific. Unsurprisingly, the two Farnham songs performed at the end caused a lot of reaction, 'Angels' and 'Burn For You'.
The tenor is the highest male voice type you will find in a typical choir, which is all very lovely, but in rock, it's the one that sucks the most energy out of a performer.
Even for Michael, though exhausted, he grinned as a winner would; and still had time at the merch table for everyone!
