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The Australian Bee Gees Show

The Australian Bee Gees show is a celebration of one of disco’s most legendary names, bringing the music that shaped the cultural landscape of the 1970’s to the Excalibur Hotel & Casino.  I am nothing if not a Bee Gees fan (my wedding processional was “More Than a Woman” and my recessional was “How Deep Is Your Love”), so the opportunity to see their pre-eminent tribute group was one that I relished.

The Australian Bee Gees did not disappoint, suspending the belief of the audience for 75 minutes with Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb.  They opened with favorites “You Should Be Dancing” and “Jive Talkin’”.  In their addresses to the audience, they capture the essence of the Brothers Gibb, quirks, flowing locks, and all.

ABG was inclusive in their tribute, covering everything from the soulful, early hits like “Massachusetts,” “I’ve Got to Get a Message to You,” and “I Started a Joke,” to their Saturday Night Fever and disco hits like “Stayin’ Alive,” “Tragedy,” and “If I Can’t Have You (I Don’t Want Nobody, Baby).”  They even performed the title track to Grease, which, though performed by Frankie Valli for the film and soundtrack, was written by Barry Gibb, a fact often overlooked by even the most devoted of Bee Gees fans.

Anyone who loves the Bee Gees will undoubtedly be pleased by both the song selections and the interactive nature of the show.  ABG not only performed everyone’s favorites, devoting time to more than just their number one hits, they also gave the audience the opportunity to show off their disco moves at “Mo’s,” an area of the theatre designated as Maurice’s “nightclub,” where the audience could become more than passive spectators and dance to the songs that were meant to be danced to, not just listened to.

The Australian Bee Gees are the closest thing that many of their younger fans will ever get to seeing the Bee Gees perform together and the closest thing that their older fans will have to reliving their favorite concert memories.  Michael Clift, Wayne Hosking, and Dave Scott amply live up to the great responsibility that this fact has placed on them, offering a solid performance that would make Barry, Robin, and Maurice proud.