8.7.11 VIC Melbourne - The Palms at Crown

[Trilly]

The others are piking but I have to report before I sleep otherwise I lose that first impression veracity.

OK, my first impression? Damien and the band KILLED IT tonight!! They had the full house eating out of their hands - the audience adored every second! D was sensational, his voice is just so incredibly polished and assured now (apart from one or two glitches which can totally be put down to fatigue tonight!)

He was funny, happy and seemed to be loving every second of being onstage singing again. This music just slayed the audience, they adored it and gave D the reception he deserved! ;D

[Trilly]

We sang along, we clapped till our hands were raw, we chair -danced and swayed!! ;D This was Damien and a FULL BAND at their absolute BEST! It's so obvious the joy these muscians get from playing together,and the music ROCKED!!!

[Trilly]

Before I give you the set list, I have to emphasise that even though D has a massive week, he stayed behind after the show and spoke to EVERY fan who lined up for the signing, merch in hand. He was his usual charming self, although I swear at times the delirium was showing.LOL!

[Trilly]

D did a roughly 90 minute set, which I expected because we knew how pushed re time he was this week. However, I won't be surprised if one uninterrupted set is his usual MO these days. He needs to conserve his energy!

He came on after the support, a young woman named Jessica Chalker, who was very likable. Acoustic, mellow, great rich tones in her voice and some poignant lyrics. A bit Sarah Blasko, I enjoyed her set which included her originals :

Random People
Make Me love You
Said The Raindrop To The Seed
A Letter to My Son
The Aeroplane Song
Warning
Coming Home To You

She finished with Stevie Nicks' "Landslide", which I loved. Really nice interpretation!

Jessica appears later on.. stay tuned

[Trilly]

OK, now the setlist.

However, before Damien sang a note, they played a lovely Roy Orbison tribute on the screens and some of D's making of ROY vid! Was brililant, a great start to the gig.

SET LIST: *EDITED to add later in the morning!

You Got It! - What an awesome up-tempo opener!! Just freakin MAGIC!! The whole band started with a BANG! ..and D came out in sunnies, very ROY! - oh, wardrobe? Tight black jeans (about a size 6, or as Eric said, Jarvis's! ), white shirt, black tie and black jacket.

Then straight into:

Only The Lonely - gorgeous!

DREAM BABY!!! - funky guitar and keys, stunning version, totally rockin, adored it, even though it was minus the rap.

LOVE HURTS! - really dig their version, love the ending, Darren's drumming was amazing!!

WORKIN FOR THE MAN - live, this is just kick- arse! D's voice a capella at the beginning, is dynamite! Eric rocks it up bigtime! I'm not a big fan of it recorded for some strange reason, however adore it LIVE!! btw, Damien does some sexy hip moves during this show! WOOHOOO!

BLUE BAYOU - Jessica re-appeared to duet with D. Sounded lovely, and the crowd loved it. So did I!

BEAUTIFUL - This is one of D's best originals, which we all know, and it was amazing as usual, with Cezar on the wooden flute and D totally nailed it. Stunning!

22 STEPS - and stories about the lies he's told singing this song! Chris the keyboardist played the flute. NOICE! eric's solo was magic! Best version we've heard. ;D

IN DREAMS - OMG, GOOSEBUMPS!! Just to freakin die for! Standing O from EVERYONE!! Live, this is even better than recorded, just sensational! He scored a 10 AND a Touchdown from the audience!

RUNNING SCARED - D said this might not make the setlist tonight, and he erm, kinda forgot the lyrics, but it still sounded incredible! . This is one I'm not that keen on, on the album, but again, is stunning LIVE! Damien how the hell do you do that?? Guess it's just his amazing live performance skills!


MEAN WOMAN BLUES!!! - OMG! An unexpected addition, freakin INCREDIBLE!! One of my highlights of the evening! Damien sounded so sexy and raw, Eric's guitar growled, the drums were driving!! Absolutely LOVED it and screeammmed!! ThE entire audience rocked out!! ;D

CRYING - Stunning as usual, the crowd loved it, some stood afterwards.

I DROVE ALL NIGHT!!! - Which D dedicated to "the ladies in the front row who gave me the Mirror Ball and who have been requesting it for a while"... WOOOHOOOOO!!! Just awesome, WOWW, what more can I say? Thanks D!

HANDLE WITH CARE - adored this song too! The whole band rocked it up, D sounded incredible, Eric and Chris backed him up brilliantly on the harmonies!

Then he left the stage to thunderous applause..but ran back to grab his Mirror Ball, which he brandished in the air!

ENCORE :

PRETTY WOMAN - with the growl!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

then

Hallelujah - stunning as per again. D would not have gotten out alive without singing it.

Finally Eric finished off with some DIRE STRAITS!!! Man, brilliant. .song escapes me at the moment, but it's playing in my head! EDIT: It was the theme from Local Hero - Going Home

Massive applause, nobody wanted it to end!!!

[Trilly]

Fatigue is hitting me right now. Really can't continue except to say D did "Beautiful" as well as "22 Steps" (lies, lies lies!LOL)
tonight as well as the ROY songs - but no Remember June

MUST sleep . Will continue later

[dmac]

Thanks for coming online Trilly and writing what you did , looking forward to hearing the whole band
Oh love Beautiful, can live without 22 Steps, but know some like it awwww @ no RJ......just 1 or 2 would be great with the whole band ;D ;D ;D ;D....stirling effort Trilly

[Smiley]

Thanks Trilly! Sounds brilliant! love hearing the crowd were right into it , love hearing he stayed and saw all his fans , love that you all got to get a hug and kiss!! Love that you got to meet Mel too!!

Show sounds amazing! Looking forward to more reports and photos!!!

[Roxy]

Wow, sure sounded amazing thanx for the report so far Trills. Loved my wakeup call at midnight haha, I think I was sleeptalking looking forward to more reportage and photos

[plugger]

Thanks Trilly it sounds like an incredible night. Great to hear the crowd getting into it and he stayed back for his fans.....he is just the sweetest Look forward to hearing everyones report......and Kris got a great pic? Glad you all had a great time.

[princess1]

OMG OMG OMG

I just got home, had to leave early this morning but what an amazing show last night DAMIEN and the band were absolutely brilliant.

The video was a fantastic start to the show, I nearly missed it (nervous pp time) just got to my seat and out came Damien dressed in white shirt and black tie, skinny skinny black jeans, black jacket and sunglasses he looked sooooo cool.
Trilly has the setlist and will post it later.

We gave him a little gift tonight, he started talking about DWTS so it was a perfect time, it was a little mirror ball, D opened the box and you should have seen the smile on his face, he held that ball up in the air and gave a wooo hooo, there was a boo from up the back, Manu was there and D let him know that even if he doesn't win the trophy on DWTS he has a second prize.
The band were absolutely brilliant and it was great to see Darren on the drums.
We got to see Damien for a bit after the show, there were so many people buying the merchandise and lining up to get it signed, a lot of people were commenting on how great the show was, some that had never seen him before and he stayed and spoke to every single person, he was very happy and on such a high, it was also lovely to meet Mel and Jen, I had a fantastic night.
I just never wanted it to end

[Smiley]

Sounds fantastic! Haha love the mirrorball. Good one! Wonder what MFU was thinking seeing all that D-lurve! Makes me smile! (in an evil way ....)

Hope D has saved enough energy for Sunday...where on earth dfoes he get it from?

Oh and Darren..I forgot about that..awesome!

[astrokath]

Thanks for the report Princey, sounds fantastic. And thanks to Trills for her late night highlights - look forward to more when things have calmed down a bit.
Love the sound of the vibe in the venue, this tour sounds like it will be very special

[Glawz]

Thanks Trills, can feel the excitement in your reports and all true, it was a fantasmagorical night for all.
Damien was in good voice and the whole show really rocked! The band were fantastic - it's so good for D to have the full band to emphasise the songs ... so many standing ovations, one for "In Dreams" which was

He was so damned funny tonight and gave himself a really good plug for DWTS, with help from Eric - they had the call in numbers on the big screens.

Personally, I took DH plus DD and her DH and four friends. Damien now has more fans. My SIL said to me that he has been to heaps of rock concerts (he loves Motley Crue, and other rock bands) and this show was right up there with them. He loved it!
DD said she was starstruck!! To think that a star would take the time after the show to spend with his fans (and he looked v e r y
tired and drawn) and a little pale, but he soldiered on signing and posing for photos - what a trouper!!

I just absolutely loved this show - the jokes about the buns and the abs, and the fact that he reached that high note because his jeans were too tight - he was a scream... Gotta love him

Eric and the band just rocked, honestly I have been to many shows but somehow this one just had the 'happy' ingredient for everybody, Damien, the band and definitely the audience. He just had them eating out of his hand and he was relishing the feedback. This was evident I think by the fact that he stayed behind so long (there was a huge queue).. even though he said he had a curfew!!

Nuff said, waiting for Trilly to post the set list. Not a really long show - like everybody, could have listened to him forever - but there's an agenda for Sunday night. Will post some photos later
and you can read about Glawz adventures in the Hut!

[thebraff (Braffy)]

Fantastic reports. Yippeeee! Boo to the boo ;D


Was RJ for sale and was it selling?

I am so excited for Sunday night and for our show next week.

I won't be able to top these reports and there are still more to come. Loving it.
thank you