DAN SULTAN X MSO – Hamer Hall, Melbourne12 July 2024
“Keep the Fire Burning”
Review by Craig Eriksson. Photos by Nico Keenan
NAIDOC WEEK is a special time that celebrates and recognises the proud history, culture and achievements of our First Nations people. It is an opportunity for all of us Australians to come together and proudly celebrate the people who represent the oldest continuous cultures on earth.
I have strong admiration for our First Nations people’s strength and resilience and I am always grateful when opportunities arise to learn about and connect with the interesting, richness and vibrancy of Aboriginal cultures. As I get older and wiser, I have come to recognise and appreciate just how important it is for all of us to have an awareness, understanding and appreciation of our ‘Lucky Country’. To respect, value and appreciate the land we live and walk on. The rocks, trees, rivers, animals, birds which all play a major part of our land and existence and to recognise and respect our Country and its history.
Dan Sultan’s mother was part of the stolen generation from the Arrernte/Gurindji mob in the Northern Territory. Dan is very open about how proud he is of his ethnicity, always embracing being a First Nations man and I believe this truly comes out in his music.
I first came across Dan Sultan back in 2009 at the St Kilda Festival and then shortly after at the 2010 Melbourne Big Day Out. I have seen thousands of musicians over the years being a live music addict and supporter, but there was instantly something unique and beautiful about Dan Sultans performance and music that stood out to me and really caught my attention.
Listening to Dan’s soulful, blues-drenched, country-influenced, rock n roll vocals and sound, it has a purity about it. When Dan sings, he bares his soul and emotions, creating heartfelt, joyous music and storytelling coming deep from within his heart, soul and spirit. Accompanied with his guitar and other instruments makes for a beautiful, texturally diverse sound. He is a true artist!
I personally have been on the Dan bandwagon ever since and his music has always remained on high rotation at my place. I have thoroughly enjoyed experiencing his musical journey over the past 15 years and have watched Dan evolve into a multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, clap sticks (boomerangs). He is undeniably an amazing artist.
Therefore, it came as no surprise to me when I heard Dan was going to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of his Blackbird album accompanied with the wonderful and incredible Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at Hamer Hall. Dan had previously performed with the MSO in 2023 when he was part of One Song – The Music of Archie Roach which was held over two-consecutive nights at Hamer Hall.
The MSO was established in 1906 and has a long standing, culturally diverse history of contemporary collaborations with some incredible artists delivering memorable shows to the community and afar. The MSO have an incredible reputation for excellence, versatility and innovation, well known in Australia and throughout the world. They’ve collaborated with local artists such as Birds of Tokyo, Kate Ceberano, Electric Fields and now the amazing Dan Sultan.
Last night provided for a very different Dan Sultan show and experience. The first half was all songs from the Blackbird album and the second half was a mix from Dan’s wonderful music catalogue.
The MSO wandered out and took their places ready for their performance and once seated, out comes the Conductor, Aaron Wyatt making his grand entrance to the applause of the audience. Shortly after, Dan walks out onto the stage from the other side wearing a three-piece suit, looking incredibly sharp with his slicked back Elvis-like hair, wearing no socks and an open white shirt slightly showing his owl tattoo on his chest. The crowd instantly erupts with a loud applause and wolf whistles creating excitement and exhilaration in the concert hall.
Let the show begin!
Dan stood up front and centre of stage for the majority of the show, accompanied with no instruments, just a man, his voice and the magnificent MSO. He played the mandolin on one song and the piano on a couple of songs and was quite funny in between songs as he engaged with the crowd. An incredible humble man, so sincere, aware and appreciative of his stellar career to date.
The first half opened with The Same Man followed by crowd favourite Kimberley Calling. It was then time for Dan to break into well-sort of a love song with Loving’s Just For Fools. The show continued with It Belongs to Us, Can’t Blame Me, Nobody Knows, High Street Riot and finished with Gullible Few. A stunning first half.
The layers his music is generally known for were enriched and reflected in many tones, textures, layers and colours by the MSO tonight which deeply resonated with the audience judging by the look on the audiences faces. The MSO were noticeably tight and exceptional with their arrangement and delivery of the Blackbird album songs in the first half of the show.
From the soaring and plaintive solo violin to the driving rhythm of the pizzicato string section, the power of the brass, horns, drums and harp. Dan’s music came to life in a very different, new and moving way. Hearing rearrangement of Dan’s songs took the audience on a magical music carpet ride. It was majestic!
The stage artwork was created by Dan’s lifelong friend, Jarra Karalinar Steel. Beautiful indigenous artwork displayed consisting of various feathers, black cockatoo, rainbow serpent and flowers creating for a cultural and earthy stage setting.
It is undeniable that Dan is certainly an amazing, gifted and talented musician and is able to captivate his audience mesmerising them with his crooner-like charm, swagger and good looks as he delivers some absolutely wonderful songs and musical stories.
At the Interval, as people wandered around the foyer and grabbing themselves a drink, I could hear many talking amongst their groups about how wonderful the show had been so far and couldn’t wait to get back to their seats ready for the second half offering.
The second half opened with Time Won’t Take and then led into the beautiful, heart-warming ballad Wait In Love he wrote and dedicated to his wife Bronnie before she became his wife and before they had children. The show continued with fan favourites, Walk Through My Dream, Chance to Lose Control. Dan then sat behind the piano and played Cul-de-sac, another much loved and outstanding song. Next up was Lashings and the more upbeat Magnetic and Fire Under Foot. As we headed towards the end of the show, Dan sang Old Fitzroy and judging by the crowd reaction, a favourite to all in attendance. The encore ended with Undreamt Shores. The back story to this song was Dan watching a show on TV and hearing the narrator talking about coming around a little bend to undreamt shores and decided to write a song using that expression.
Interesting to recall that earlier in the evening, Dan reminisced about a time when he was a young kid walking with his mother past the Spiegeltent and Hamer Hall. His Mother said to him, one day you may get to play in the Spiegeltent and Dan said maybe one day I’ll play in there, pointing to Hamer Hall (Undreamt shores).
The evening was well-received and the show was spiritually uplifting, texturally diverse and resonated with the audience. Dan is an incredible, singer/songwriter, talented musician and National treasure.
I cannot wait for the next chapter of Dan’ ever evolving musical and spiritual journey. The MSO have also announced their next collaboration will be with Jet and also The Cat Empire have also been rumoured to be collaborating with the MSO.