Thursday, August 6, 1998

Truly Garden variety

Fabulous Aussie duo a mix of influences and styles

Take the flamboyant sweetness of Erasure's Andy Bell, the bobbing dance moves of Simple Minds' Jim Kerr and mix it up with the darker drama of Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan and you have synth-pop's latest cover boy -- Darren Hayes.

Hayes, who makes up one half of the mega-selling Aussie duo Savage Garden, proved himself a frontman to be reckoned with at the Molson Amphitheatre last night even though it was only the group's first official concert here.

And despite the surprisingly small crowd of 7,000 -- the amphitheatre holds more than twice that amount -- Hayes managed to have those on the floor on their feet and screaming from the start of the hour-and-a-half show.

A diminutive but muscular presence, Hayes has quickly learned how to play to a crowd when not directly interacting with his Savage Garden partner -- the tall and handsome keyboardist-guitarist Daniel Jones (aka The Quiet Hearthrob.)

Backed by a five-piece band, including two female back-up singers, Hayes was all sexy strut and theatrical hand gestures, dripping sweat and changing costumes several times.

Initially sporty looking in blue-tinted wraparound glasses, a skintight top, shiny track pants and platform sneakers, Hayes eventually changed into a more outrageous outfit.

It was during the song All Around Me when Hayes returned to the stage -- after eight glittering disco balls had descended from the ceiling -- wearing silver coattails, a skintight white top and silver sequined glasses. He was joined by the two back-up singers in blond, bobbed wigs, fur-trimmed coats, silver miniskirts and matching platform boots.

If the look wasn't enough, they inserted the Spice Girls' Spice Up Your Life into the middle of the song. Hayes ended the shenanigans by ripping the wigs off the singers and then rubbing his crotch with his jacket, before turning around and wiggling his bottom.

"I really am going to miss Ginger Spice," he later lamented.

Hayes was also aided in his atmospheric quest by slick lights, a cityscape backdrop and some raised stairs in the centre of the stage. (Nothing makes an entrance like walking down a staircase.)

And seeing as Savage Garden have only one album to tour with right now, they performed some covers -- some worked (Joan Osborne's One Of Us), while others didn't (Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me.)

The one trick that did prove effective was throwing in snippets of other people's songs to jazz up the material. For instance, the Four Tops' I Can't Help Myself became a bridge in the Savage Garden song Promises, as did Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit during Break Me Shake Me. (Canadian content came in the form of Sarah McLachlan's Building A Mystery at the beginning of One Of Us.)

Otherwise, the crowd went completely bananas for the hit dance single, I Want You, and the show-ending ballad, Truly Madly Deeply.

And probably more than one person in the crowd envied the lucky female fan who was plucked from the audience by Hayes during the encore.

Not only did Hayes take a picture of them together on stage, he also pulled the girl into his arms for a slow dance.

I'm surprised she didn't faint, judging from the look on her face afterward.

Set List