The White Album Tour returns for 2023
The most successful Beatles event ever staged in Australia returns! After three sold-out tours in 2009, 2014 and 2018 Chris Cheney (The Living End), Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon), Tim Rogers (You Am I), and ARIA Award-winning solo artist Josh Pyke are reuniting for a 2023 tour in a nod to this very special album.
Chris, Josh, Phil & Tim are backed by a 17-piece rock orchestra including guitars, strings, horns and two drummers with musical direction by Rex Goh.
The White Album songs will be performed in track order, starting with Back in the U.S.S.R and closing with Good Night. And for those in the know – yes, that includes Revolution 9.
This nostalgic masterpiece was last performed in 2014, and we were there to witness it. For anyone on the fence, check out our 2014 review below.
Originally published July 2014.
Sunday July 13th marked the official start to a magical concert tour composed of 17 world-class musicians setting the musical backdrop and opening the stage for four of Australia’s greatest showmen. Tim Rogers, Chris Cheney, Phil Jamieson, and Josh Pyke, among the intimate setting of the Qld Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), set out to bring to life one of the most respected pieces of music of the 20th century – The Beatles’ White Album. This collaboration was initially conceived back in 2009 and performed as a one-off tour, but due to the overwhelming response from fans and critics alike, the second incarnation was born.
This is a somewhat random collaboration; four musicians from four different walks of life, uniting to pay tribute to a common love. Most would agree the choice was unexpected, but if you think about it, doesn’t that very idea encapsulate everything the White Album stands for?
The layout works like this. The tracks from the white album are divided up between them, while leaving a select few for group renditions. This time around however, the show was changed ever so slightly, to include a track that was left off the original 2009 production, Revolution 9.
Tim Rogers, originally of You Am I, invoked the spirit of a 1940s circus ringleader to bring them all together while taking the lead vocals on the quirkier selections like Piggies, and Wild Honey Pie, as well as adding a humorous narrative to the otherwise non-existent transition between each song. He contrasted his humorous side by leading us through his beautiful repertoire during his re-creation of Happiness Is A Warm Gun, and a very respectable Revolution 1.
Chris Cheney, Living End vocalist and Guitarist extraordinaire, wailed his way through the riff-reliant selections with a fine balance of ferocity and grace, yet resembled a nervous schoolboy as he awkwardly stumbled through the few songs where he was not brandishing his trademark Gretsch. While show began with Cheney leading the charge with a somewhat rough rendition of Back In The USSR, it is safe to say he quickly redeemed himself by successfully reinventing his other parts, including Glass Onion, Helter Skelter, and While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Phil Jamieson, frontman for East-Coast Aussie rock band Grinspoon has seen many challenges both musically and personally over the past two decades, but I would have to say this may have been one of the more difficult personas to mould into; maybe it was just opening night jitters, but for the first half of the show he just didn’t bring that huge personality that we’re used to when seeing him on stage. In saying that, his rendition of Honey Pie was one of implicit beauty; Jamieson made the seamless transition between rockstar and vaudeville performer, which might well have been his best performance of the show.
Josh Pyke. Somehow this name just doesn’t look right when placed next to the rest, I mean, you’ve got three extraordinary showmen from three of Australia’s biggest bands, and then this guy. What is he even doing here? Well, my concerns were washed away when he made his way on stage for his first solo of the show with Martha My Dear. He may not provide the theatrics that the other guys bring to the table, but when you’ve got a voice like that, you don’t need the bells and whistles. In fact, Pyke’s rendition of Blackbird was the undisputed highlight of the show, so I guess we can forgive him for forgetting the words to Rocky Raccoon.
Tonight’s exceptional performance was something that will be remembered always, and although these four dapper lads provided a magnificent show that will hold a special place in the heart of any Beatles fan, special thanks must go out to the amazingly talented musicians and vocalists that came together to reproduce this masterpiece with a level of finesse and respect that a piece of music like this deserves.
The show came to a sensational end with the final encore, the single release of Revolution 1, that brought the entire theatre to their feet, clapping, singing, and literally dancing in the aisles, and it became quite clear that these four Aussie boys managed to do something that nobody else has been able to do previously; they inspired the audience, and took them all, young and old, back to 1968 to experience the magic that is The Beatles’ White Album.