Paying tribute to top pop stars
The AJN reviews the tribute show, Legends in Concert, being staged at The Palms at Crown in Melbourne.
IMAGINE turning back the clock to see superstars such as Elvis Presley and Tina Turner at the height of their careers in a cameo concert performance.
The next best option is the tribute show, Legends in Concert, currently being staged at The Palms at Crown, featuring singers portraying Elvis, Tina, Freddie Mercury from Queen, Cher, Stevie Wonder and Cyndi Lauper.
Tribute shows like this one have honoured a host of stars in Las Vegas for the past 40 years and the touring version has been a fixture at Melbourne’s Crown Casino for the past seven years.
The current show, which opened earlier this month and runs until January 25, features American-based singers and key band members from the Las Vegas show who have teamed up with Australian musicians, local backing singers and dancers.
Of course, the key element is that the singers sound exactly like the original stars and Legends in Concert achieves that with flying colours.
In addition, the performers dress like the real stars and mimic their mannerisms. During the show the big screens alongside the stage feature clips from the legends’ careers.
Each singer performs five or six numbers, so unfortunately some favourite hits have to miss out.
Nellie Norris as Cyndi Lauper is the first act on stage and her hit Girls Just Want to Have Fun soon has the audience involved.
Billy Buchanan as Stevie Wonder follows with hits including Part-time Lover and For Once in my Life, but it is Swedish-born Annika Weaver as Cher in the final act before interval that gets the audience excited with numbers such as I Got You Babe and Turn Back Time.
Philadelphia-born Lori Mitchell-Gay struts the stage as Tina Turner with her rock anthems The Best, Private Dancer and Proud Mary delighting the audience, many of whom were old enough to have seen the real singers in their heyday.
Continuing to rev up the audience was Fernando Castro as Freddie Mercury with Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions among the most popular.
Norris as Cyndi Lauper returned to perform a touching duet with Castro as Mercury of the classic song, Under Pressure.
Bill Cherry as Elvis Presley had the honour of closing the show with hits including Burning Love, Suspicious Minds and Can’t Help Falling In Love.
Cherry has been paying homage to the king since 1989 and is regarded as one of the world’s top Elvis tribute artists.
The fine voices of all the performers, supported by the topline backing band, provide a great two-hour tribute show to the legendary singers.
Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au
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