John Farnham: Talk of the Town Tour (1994)

In February 1994, John Farnham embarked upon what was (to that point in time) his biggest concert tour to date - The "Talk of the Town" Tour - in support of his 1993 multi-platinum "Then Again..." album. The album's third single, the country-infused "Talk of the Town" (written by Goanna's Shane Howard), served as the tour's aptly-named title. Over a two-month period, John and his band played almost 40 shows to a combined audience of nearly 250,000 people. This included (a then-record) 10 shows at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena (known then as the National Tennis Centre).

John's "Talk of the Town" Tour was released on VHS in 1994, but never re-released on any disc or digital platform. The reasons for this is unclear, although much has been made of the recording's "strange" sound and choppy editing. When ripped directly from the VHS, this concert's sound can be quite impactful, although as a "live" recording, it is certainly very different to John's previous tours. This appears to be mainly due to its "weird" mixing choices.

In this concert series, we are introduced to two new Farnham Band members: Stuart 'Chet' Fraser from Noiseworks fame and John's new musical director (and keyboardist) Chong Lim. Chong adds his personal touch to the arrangements, that in some cases, vary greatly from John's former musical director, David Hirschfelder.

And editing wise, this concert features only snippets of John's between-the-songs jokes and banter. It flies by song to song pretty quickly - too quickly to really get the concert's natural flow down pat.

This is not the first time this concert has been on YouTube, but the quality has always been less than stellar. I've tried to capture the best possible version - within the limitations of the pre-digital VHS format. Hopefully this is acceptable enough for those of you who don't own the old VHS tape? :)

The Band:

Brett Garsed - Guitars
Angus Burchall - Drums
Venetta Fields - Backing Vocals
Lindsay Field - Backing Vocals / Guitar
Lisa Edwards - Backing Vocals
Joe Creighton - Bass
Stuart Fraser - Guitars
Steve Williams - Harmonica / Saxophone / Backing Vocals
Chong Lim - Keyboards

0:00 Intro / Behind-the-Scenes

Tour Setlist:

3:13 That's Freedom
7:33 Chain Reaction
10:51 Treated This Way
15:10 Seemed Like a Good Idea (At the Time)
19:04 Age of Reason
24:43 Angels
30:35 Reasons
35:10 It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
40:26 Burn for You
45:09 The Reason Why
49:55 When All Else Fails
54:42 Only Women Bleed
59:38 Two Strong Hearts
1:04:22 Talk of the Town
1:08:04 Pressure Down
1:11:39 Playing to Win
1:16:06 You're the Voice
1:21:03 A Touch of Paradise

1:26:29 End Credits

A few personal observations:

The financial takings from the "Talk of the Town" tour played a significant part in the tax scandal that Glenn Wheatley found himself imprisoned for in 2007 - 13 years later!
The opening of this show, with it's moody atmospherics and the "quick pan" of the spotlights to illuminate John (already present on the stage) is probably my favourite opening to any of John's concerts - period! It's spectacular!
Brett's hair during this era is something to behold. It doesn't get any more 90s (or Guns N' Roses) than what Brett is pulling off here!
Other songs performed at a small selection of the tour's shows: "Please Don't Ask Me", "Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)" from Superstar, Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" and "When the War Is Over".
Joe Creighton's rolly-polly hand motion into the upwards fist pump - during the synth hits of "Pressure Down" - is a visual splendor.
It's good to hear "It's a Long Way to the Top" featured in the set somewhere different for a change (not the final song).
The end credits feature the hard-to-find instrumental version of "Angels" - which apparently appeared on an early version of the CD single - but is impossible to find!

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