Jim Haynes was the consumate compere, and began the night
with one of John's
songs Jim has sung thousands of times at his school shows, Chain
Around My
Ankle.
Galleries of Pink Galahs was sung, very appropriately, by The
Songbirds -
Beccy Cole, Gina Jeffreys and Sara Storer. The girls then sang a
rollicking,
rocking version of Old Man Emu, which brought the house down.
Gina Jeffreys delivered the goods with Purple Roses and
Salisbury Street.
Gina spoke of how she had always aspired to captivating an audience
like
John Williamson does.
Sara Storer could charm the pants off a kangaroo, judging by
the huge
reaction she got when singing Mallee Girl and Wrinkles. I don't
think there
would have been too many dry sets of eyes in the house during
Wrinkles. It
was amazing
Golden girl Beccy Cole sang and played a killer version of
John's classic,
Tubbo Station.
Beccy swapped her guitar for a set of congas to tap out some
percussion in
Papa Whiskey November. What a class act.
Mick Albeck fiddled up a storm on Saturday night. Other band
members (not
pictured) were: Rod McCormack, Ian Lees, Doug Gallacher, Rod Motbey
and Mark
Moulynox
Bush balladeer Jeff Brown sang I've Always Been A Drover and Bill
The Cat.
He cracked the audience up with his little intro: I'm really pleased
I'm not
a cat. And I'm really pleased my name's not Bill!
Tracy Coster sang straight from the heart, delivering Someday
An Eagle and
Bells In A Bushman's Ear, and she recited John's classic poem
dedicated to
Tracy's late father, Stan Coster. Magic stuff.
Brendon Walmsley sang the beautiful Cootamundra Wattle, 'a
Walmsley family
favourite', and A Bushman Can't Survive.
Mark Moulynox and Rod Motbey were two of the fabulous players
backing all
Golden Guitar winners at Saturday night's concert. The music was to
die for
....
Shaza Leigh joined her Golden Guitar winning husband, Lindsay
Butler, on
stage for two instrumental interpretations of John's songs - A
Bushman Can't
Survive and You And My Guitar.
Lindsay Butler recorded both of those songs and said he would
love to record
more of John Williamson's magnificent melodies in the future.
After 19 glorious songs, John Williamson took centre stage
and delivered
seven absolute beauties from his treasure trove of 300-odd songs -
Wintergreen, Prettiest Girl in the Kimberley, Chandelier of Stars,
Hawkesbury River Lovin', Cydi, Raining on the Rock, and the big
finale -
True Blue. He was joined for the final chorus of True Blue by the
entire
cast of performers.
Hey True Blue - The Songbirds joined Willo on stage right,
and all other
performers on stage left.
It was a fabulous finish to a memorable night in the Country
Music Capital.
The whole audience joined the performers in singing Australia's
'unofficial'
national anthem - Hey True Blue
I think the smiles say it all in this one. Shame about the
microphone stand
- when will some clever person invent see through mic stands?
****************************
Tamworth
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