THE FABULOUS CAPRETTOS OPENING NIGHT
RUSSEL MORRIS, DARYL BRAITHWAITE, JACK JONES & RAI THISTLETHWAYTE
The advertising promised something special – four legends of Australian music, friends performing for the first time as The Fabulous Caprettos, all on stage together for the entire duration of the show.
It promised all their hits and favourite songs, along with brand new songs performed live for the very first time.
Well, they certainly did deliver!!
Opening night of their national tour was a capacity crowd at The Bridgeway Hotel, a favourite venue north of Adelaide. Although we arrived an hour before doors opening, there was already a long line forming at the entrance, which very soon reached all the way down to Bridge Road.
The show was supported by Adelaide based Laura Hill and Joshua James Morphett of Lilac Cove who did a very good job to entertain the impatient full house ahead of the main act.
When the four boys came out to thunderous applause, right from the outset, clearly having a fabulous time, taking it in turns singing each others hits and providing backup vocals for each other. Although it was opening night with not too much time to rehearse together, their performance was full of fun and friendship. The odd little imperfections added to the enjoyment for the audience, who felt like they were teenagers again, and I think, so did the boys.
Daryl didn’t tell quite as many of his famous Dad jokes, although there was friendly rivalry between Daryl and Russell as to who won the most King of Pop awards.
The dance floor started filling before the show even began and didn’t empty all night.
Selecting highlights from a night full of highlights is difficult, but here goes ….
- Jack Jones sitting on a stool with his acoustic guitar, under a single spotlight singing “Hold Me In Your Arms” was definitely a hold your breath moment
- Russell Morris’s “It’s Over Now Baby Blue” was another crowd favourite
- Rai Thistlethwayte’s “20 Good Reasons” also had us singing along
- The final song, Daryl Braithwaite’s “Horses” which went to 13 minutes with every band member having their moment to shine, was unforgettable
Rounding out the band was Jason Vorherr on bass and Gerry Pantazis on drums, Jason doing well, knowing our beloved Richmond were going down to the Lions during the concert.
DARYL BRAITHWAITE
Lead singer of Sherbet (1971-1979), who produced 20 National Top 40 singles including “Summer Love” the highest selling single of 1975 and “Howzat” number one in Australia and number two in England.
After Sherbet, Daryl released his first solo album “Edge” in 1988 which spent over a year in the national charts followed by “Rise”, the highest selling album of 1991.
In 2020 he topped the charts again with his number one hit single “Love Songs”.
I had a chat with Daryl leading up to opening night:
Sweet Sweet Love
RUSSELL MORRIS
After almost six decades in the music business, this legend of the Australian music industry keeps getting better and better. Over 50 years ago he was the first Aussie artist to have two consecutive number one hit singles with his first two releases, “The Real Thing” and “Part Three Into Paper Walls”, both reaching number one on the charts.
His more recent releases include Sharkmouth 2012 (platinum), Van Diemen’s Land 2014, Red Dirt – Red Heart 2015 (ARIA award winning Best Blues & Roots Album) and Black and Blue Heart 2019.
JACK JONES aka IRWIN THOMAS
Front man, guitarist and founding member of Southern Sons (1990-1996) with three albums, multi platinum sales and hits “Heart In Danger”, “Hold Me In Your Arms” and “Always & Ever”, Jack has also worked with an almost endless list of Australian artists including John Farnham, Glenn Shorrock, Tina Arena, Guy Sabastian, Richard Clapson, John Stevens, Ian Moss and Doug Parkinson, and was also a founding member of Electric Mary.
I had a chat with Jack leading up to opening night:
RAI THISTLEWHAYTE
Son of a classical piano teacher mother and a guitar playing father, Rai was always going to be a stellar musician, winning a scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for Jazz Piano but signed by Columbia Records in the US before completing the programme.
He has been the leading singer, keyboard player and main songwriter for Thirsty Merc since 2004 with hits including “In The Summertime”, “20 Good Reasons” and “Someday, Someday”.
I had a chat with Rai leading up to opening night: w
MERCHANDISE
There was a comprehensive merchandise pack available to purchase containing the story of their band name which is the Italian word for ‘goat’, a tongue in cheek play on ‘Greatest Of All Time’, a sporting term. It also has information on each member, some great photos, handwritten notes of the song lyrics to their two new songs, “Hit The Ground Running” and “Highway of the Heart” and a cd of those two songs, both destined to be hits.
After the show, signing and photo opportunities were available for those with the patience to tackle the long queues, although Daryl did need to pop away a little earlier than the others.
Congratulations and thank you to John Starr, Rob Pippan and all involved bringing the show to Adelaide.
It is a ‘fabulous’ show, don’t miss it when it comes to your town:
28 May Sydney, Coliseum Theatre
29 May Wollongong
30 May Toronto
4 June Toowoomba
5 June Tweed Heads
11 June Sydney, Revesby Workers
12 June Ipswich
13 June Sunshine Coast
19 June Brisbane
24 June Warragul
25 June Geelong
26 June Melbourne
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