Glenn Shorrock, the front man of the band responsible of taking Australian music to the world, recently came to the Basement for his own show. Has he still got the same zest? Dave Roberts reminisces.

If you remember from a few reviews ago that I posted, I mentioned I hadn’t met a whole bunch of my influences in music, sighting a few examples from around the years of my musical interactions. And most of them I still haven’t met. However I can cross another one off my ever-growing list of ‘people to meet’ – Glenn Shorrock. Now, if you are reading this and have no idea who he is, go and ask your mum and dad. And if they don’t know who he is you need to do some research and educate them dear reader – and don’t worry I’ll give you a brief rundown right now.

Glenn was the lead singer of a band called The Little River Band. Still no idea? Well how about the band that was responsible for taking Australian music into the world, and breaking Australian music into the US charts. Or, to put it as I heard someone state it recently: “They paved a highway across America for other Aussie acts to follow.” So, with that in mind you must be wondering where I saw the heavyweight of Australian pop music play. The Acer Arena? Nope. Entertainment Centre? Hardly.

No it was a small, intimate gig at the Basement, a little underground music venue here in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. What’s more, he played an acoustic set with an acoustic guitarist, a keyboardist/guitarist and a drummer using brushes. Bear in mind this is the third time I have seen Mr. Shorrock perform, once with the Little River Band (Or as they are now called Birtles, Shorrock and Goble – look that one up) once with another guy called Brian Cadd (again, go as your parents kids) and now, once by himself.

The first thing that struck me was his voice. He sounds exactly the same as he did thirty-five years ago on the very first Little River Band album (self-titled as was the practise in those days) – minus the record player’s pop and crackle of course. He was personable and warm on stage, and off (I’ll get into that a little later) and wasn’t afraid to have a joke or two with the audience. And that’s what I love about The Basement. So small, so private it’s almost like he’s playing a one-on-one concert for you.

Opening with ‘It’s a long way there’ – Track one, side one off the afore mentioned debut album – and I must say the version they pulled off last night was absolutely sublime. As I mentioned – I have seen them in full flight as Birtles, Shorrock and Goble, and this version – even although it was acoustic – was all over the original. The groove and overall feeling of the song oozed out from all members, with all those on stage performing well – directing attention to whoever needed it at the time. It was absolutely flawless.

He then, after a quick “Hello, how are you?” whisked us away to the year 1965 with a little chart-topper called ‘Needle in a Haystack’ from his band The Twilights. Another short interlude and we heard one of the most overplayed birthing songs in history – "A Little Ray of Sunshine" which he performed in the Axiom years with the afore mentioned Brian Cadd. But it wasn’t too long before we got onto his legacy – The Little River Band.

In fact of the music we heard that night, 90-odd-percent of it was from the LRB days, including songs such as "Cool Change", "Days on the Road", and my personal favourite, "Home on a Monday". Again, the band pulled these songs off without any problems, no sweating and no qualms at all. I think it was the smoothest run and executed gig I have ever been to actually. Glenn even managed to throw in a couple of off-beat Beatles covers just to amuse us even further than usual.

And, of course, he did the two biggest Little River band songs, and arguably the two biggest Australian songs of all time – ‘Reminiscing’ and ‘Help is on it’s Way’. In fact Glenn decided to share with us this little gem of trivia: "Reminiscing" is the most played Australian song in the USA of all time, with five and a half million plays on their airways at this point in history. Just in the USA. And for all of you wondering, yes it’s the same song that the Sugar Babes covered years ago.

Onto the more technical details of the gig – the lighting was moody and simple – it allowed us to enjoy the music rather than be awed by the show being put on. The sound was fantastic and asides one tiny little technical hitch, which involved the guitarist leaving his tuner on and then wondering why he didn’t have any sound, it went perfectly. Even the crowd was subdued and made the entire night very enjoyable.

But what capped the night off was briefly meeting the man himself, backstage after the gig. I managed to pull a poster down to get him to sign it, and he did, offering a brief chat in between. The most influential Australian singer of all time was sitting backstage, having a yack with a twenty-year-old fan – now where else in the world would you manage to get that? Laughably, even my dad got in on the action shaking his hand and reminiscing of listening to those songs when he was my age. Looking back on it, I should have asked if he needed another guitarist but I’ll get to ask him again.

In fact, when he comes around next time I will certainly be there. The same way I was last night – singing my heart out to all the tunes that I was grown up on, and that I know and love from my years of playing guitar. If one thing is for certain, It is definitely a long way to where I’m going – but Glenn has already made it, come back, and made it again. He certainly hasn’t lost his way, his voice or his style – and he certainly never will.