I recently chatted to Michael Clift the founder of the Australian Bee Gees. The ‘Feel the Fever Again Tour’ tours Australia in coming weeks.
It’s been 14 years and 4,000 shows at the Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas for the Australian Bee Gees with a contract of at least another five years announced. The show had been voted the best tribute show and tenth overall best show in Vegas.
For over 30 years the guys have been the consummate performers with the live celebration tribute to the Gibb brothers.
I asked Clift how the show has evolved over those years and how has it been received in the over 60 different countries it had toured.
Clift said one of the major things the guys have experienced over the years is that their confidence and sense of ease in reprising their roles has grown, also they are much more clued into the nuances of performing for different audiences.
Clift explains that in Asia the audiences are quiet and polite compared to the much more vocal response from Vegas.
Once the guys thought this difference was a cause for concern, but now they see it as cultural and they happily go with it.
Feedback from audiences has been invaluable in evolving their performance.
I asked Clift what song of The Bee Gees would make cause audience angst it was left off the playlist.
Without any hesitation Clift nominated ‘Staying Alive’. It is simply ‘the song that represents a generation’ and indeed with the presence of social media, ‘every generation’.
It’s odd to think, said Clift that some of the present audiences who were thirty-year-olds when the song came out in the seventies would now be in their seventies! The song said Clift is ‘simply a phenomenon’.
Clift said his wife, who is an American, has a particular love for Tasmania. While on the topic of love, Clift said his own favourite Bee Gees song is ‘To Love Someone’.
You can see The Australian Bee Gees ‘Feel the Fever Again’ tour at the following dates and venues.
Saturday 5 April 2025
Princess Theatre – Launceston, TAS 03 6331 0052 www.theatrenorth.com.au
Sunday 6 April 2025
Wrest Point Entertainment Centre – Hobart, TAS www.ticketmaster.com.au
