Queensland's heat was turned up and the A/C turned down depending on how you read this.
Either way, the ambient 'mood temperature' was not all that hard to read before the first gig of Southern Sons' national tour started at Caloundra Events Centre on Friday night (31 January).Guests arrived at a leisurely, end-of-the-working-week pace to this very well equipped mid-sized regional events centre on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Actually, I think they move at this pace all the time. As in RnR: Relaxed and don't give a Rats.
A comfortable, open-necked blend of classy and cool. An older generation of seat occupiers who clearly, 35 years ago, were fresh new fans of The State, Southern Sons or Jack Jones / Irwin Thomas himself.
Image © Michelle Cop
The C.E.C. stage layout was minimalistic. Drums in centre-rear. All the guys – Reggie Bowman, Pete Drummond, Geoff Cain and Jack – plugged into a combined amp rack, EQ and other devices in a large roadie case with the sides clipped off.
The whole lot was direct in-putted into the Event Centre's sound system. The road case top was clearly moisture resistant, it became evident, as Jack placed a bottle of 'revival fluid' on it. Dunno. . . it looked like beer to me.
Jack's pedal board proved a pain for awhile and here's where we saw his professionalism that developed overnight (I'm kidding, right?) come into play. He rolled with the ghostly buzz, acknowledged and made fun of it and brought us alongside to not worry about it either.
Jack later told the photographer and I in the Twin Towns green room the following night, the guts of one of many step-on foot switches came apart inside. Not even their amazing guitar tech travelling with them could fix anything that fast.
Image © Michelle Cop
Two other additions to the show created a visual time stamp. The side projection screens transported us to memorabilia of the group's emergence in the '90s. Remember, this was still the age of cassettes, vinyl and the recently added CD format. Paper music sheets and concert tickets had no challengers.
Friday night was also a dark-alley opportunity to spy on yet another possibly tired old band cynically milking dollars from nostalgia-blinded fans. Both groupings actively exist out there.
Any thought of the above concept being true came crashing down with the split precision delivered S.S. classics and healthy new music – not unusually, the curse of any concert. Even Jack said: "If anyone needs a wee break, take it now, I'm playing a new song!"
No one left. Because it's the FOMO factor kicking in, the fear of missing out on what they're doing next. It was gold! However, the classics – holy hell! Gems like 'Hold Me In Your Arms' and 'Heart In Danger' were, for example, straight from the studio oven: hot, fresh and a slightly new recipe of craziness.
Jack takes the occasional moment to pause again for a sip of something, before reflecting on the past years. People, places and songs that made Southern Sons such an iconic band. As a listener sitting by myself in the audience, his heartfelt honesty was engaging because it was not cheap talk. Those who listened carefully, they got it.
Image © Michelle Cop
The Saturday night at Twin Towns (1 February) had a different feel to their Sunshine Coast concert; the lighting along with the graphics created a power-based front to each of the songs. Highlights included 'Don't Tell Me What's Right' with Men at Work's Colin Hayes captured on video joining in. 'Waiting For That Train' had a stellar riff only a black Strat and Jack could conjure up.
The photographer and I invited former LA Wrecking Crew member, legendary guitarist Louis Shelton, backstage before the show to meet up with Jack Jones. Jack was visibly moved as Louis was the producer of their 1992 second album, 'Nothing But The Truth'.
Jack mentioned onstage that the meeting made him nervous, such was the respect he still held. I was sitting with Louie, this time for him in the audience as a listener, not a producer, to 'Nothing But The Truth''s lead single 'Lead Me To Water'; you could tell how pleased and proud of Jack he was, 33 years later.
The Queensland shows were a hit. As in huge.
- written by Stu Robertson
More photos from the concert.
