John Farnham's 2009 "Live by Demand" tour was just THAT. It met a ceaseless national enquiry over the intervening three years as to when the man, who had sold more tickets and more albums (and notched up more achievements) than any other Australian musician, would return to perform. It would also be fair to say that while John was away from the stage (and the studio) for a time, he was most certainly not away from those who had long admired and embraced his music for (then) over 40 years.
When Coldplay's Chris Martin introduced "Whispering Jack" to sing, what has been described (by him amongst others) as, our unofficial national anthem on a day in March 2009, Kathy McCabe reported in The Daily Telegraph: "It was everything you wanted a moment to be. There was no doubt Farnham was having a ball up there, singing with the world's biggest rock act as his backing band. But it was the crowd who made the moment. Their voices swelled as one for You're the Voice's famous chorus, Farnham revving them to sing louder and louder with an emphatic, "Come on!". Those front rows weren't the usual mums and grandmothers he would be used to hanging on his every note. They were the kids and grandkids who had grown up hearing their elders flog Farnham's signature song. It is ingrained in their DNA, and, cool or not cool, they love it. It has some powerful magic". It would be fair to say that the title of this tour was born out of that moment.
Despite over 35 performances, the "Live by Demand" tour was never filmed or recorded in any official capacity. In fact, I can remember it being a real disappointment for fans at the time - the first of John's major tours without a TV special or DVD / Blu-ray release.
But there was one particular person - one who attended a show at Brisbane's QPAC Theatre - who decided to take it upon themselves to film roughly 2/3 of the show they attended - through their 2009-era mobile phone... from the top level. I don't think this mystery person realises just how significant this footage now is! It was uploaded to YouTube in 2009 and has since been removed. So aren't you all fortunate that yours truly downloaded and archived them back in the day? ;)
What I've compiled here for you all is quite the treat. Using this "mystery" person's lost footage, along with additional footage from the videos of fellow Farnham fans Nathan O'Dowd-Tapp and Brandon Beard, I've been able to sequence the "Live by Demand" concert in the best way I possibly can - taking into account the massive technical limitations of the era (and the sources). Brandon generously supplied the tour's press conference and TV Commercial, while Nathan provided me with the opening song "Reasons" - which, must be noted, came from a show from 2010 (the following year)... BUT... no other footage of this exists, and the arrangement of the song was largely unchanged from the previous years' shows - so its inclusion here is more than warranted.
The highlight here is "That's Freedom" - as it was televised on The Nine Network on the... you guessed it... "Hey Hey It's Saturday - The Reunion" special in October 2009. It's inclusion here is fantastic, but it's a double-edged sword, as it just makes you pine for the entire show to be available in this "broadcast" quality.
The Band:
Brett Garsed - Guitar
Angus Burchall - Drums
Danielle Gaha - Backing Vocals
Lindsay Field - Backing Vocals
Lisa Edwards - Backing Vocals
Craig Newman - Bass
Stuart Fraser - Guitar
Steve Williams - Harmonica / Saxophone
Bob Coassin - Trumpet
Chong Lim - Keyboards
0:00 Intro
0:28 Press Conference
Tour setlist:
6:22 Reasons
10:59 Heart's on Fire
14:22 Every Time You Cry
18:47 A Simple Life
22:37 Age of Reason
28:44 Lost
32:55 Burn for You
37:03 A Touch of Paradise
41:28 Chain Reaction
45:28 Two Strong Hearts
45:30 Man of the Hour
45:32 Trying to Live My Life Without You
45:36 Pressure Down
49:05 That's Freedom
53:39 Playing to Win
56:40 You're the Voice
1:01:19 Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)
1:01:25 Help
A few personal observations:
* Also performed on the tour: "Talk of the Town" & "Please Don't Ask Me".
* I had to put in a (very ironic) emoticon at the beginning of the tour's press conference footage. Bless John... but it's sad to hear in 2022. (1:01)
* What on earth does John change the words to for "Heart's on Fire"? I think he makes them up - "not to let another game get lost" ??? Ha ha ha! (12:10)
* I really like the somewhat aggressive end of "Age of Reason" with Angus and Chong really going for it. (28:00)
* Coldplay's "Lost" being covered here is now a genuine (and great) rarity.
* Great to hear a new and interesting arrangement of "Burn for You".
* John's cough and holding of his throat following the "Wooow" at the start of "Playing to Win" always makes me smile. Always putting in 110%. (53:45)
The John Farnham Video Playlist:
[ Ссылка ]
