The cross colours were gone. The high beanies were gone. Hell, even one of their members, Brian Harvey, was gone. But for Tony Mortimer, John Hendy and Terry Coldwell, it was 1993 all over again in the plush surrounds of Toorak. The Trak Lounge – surrounded by its ridiculously priced boutiques and hair salons – is a fair way from the Walthamstow dog track, but it played its role as host well for the latest in a huge chain of 90s revival acts. Full Gallery: East 17 |
Went to the show? See if you can spot yourself in the gallery: S Club/Big Brovaz When – and where – will it end? With the Australian dollar still enjoying giddy heights against the US dollar and the Pound, 90s and 2000s acts far and wide have been clambering aboard long haul flights to grab some quick cash from the Antipodes. Sadly, some of these acts possess the integrity and dignity of the current economy in Greece. |
Lene Nystrøm, Aqua - The Palace, 13th March 2012
The Vengaboys paved the way earlier this year for the invasion of hideous 90′s Europop superannuation tours to our shores. This has since seen the likes of a watered-down S Club 7 and the inexplicable Eiffel 65 announce tours of their own.
When it comes to 90s Europop though, there are few who were bigger than Denmark’s Aqua. What no one saw coming however (well, except perhaps promoters who are no doubt giggling away as I type) was that the Danish purveyors of all things happy and poppy would sell out three shows at the impressively sized Palace Theatre in Melbourne.
Yup. Three nights.
Choosing to have a crack at convincing the crowd that they can still deliver pop tunes like they did when Barbie Girl was invading our eardrums, Aqua open with a new tune – Playmate To Jesus. Vocalists Lene Nystrøm and René Dif are energetic, the former prowling the stage like a cat in spiked Doc Martens, and the latter getting down into the crowd during the early parts of the set.
Whilst the newer tunes get a pretty decent reception, it’s the offerings from 1996′s über-smash fun time happy song collection Aquarium that predictably delights the crowd.
The first of these is Dr Jones, the successful-in-its-own-right follow up to Barbie Girl. The crowd – comprised predominantly of folk in their mid 20′s – were in incredible voice and were clearly there for a damn good time. Coloured hair, some bizarre outfits and even a lone fan up front wearing Danish warpaint all crammed into the floor area.
