The Gibb name means ‘bright youth’ and ‘famous’ and one could pluralise that to encompass bright youths, three young brothers who achieved fame for their extraordinary song writing ability for themselves and other performers, for their musical harmonies, disco dancing hits and Barry’s falsetto!
I recently caught up with Michael Clift for a chat recently. Michael and his tribute group ‘The Australian Bee Gees’ bring back the echo of the Bee Gees to Tasmania this May. The guys are regular visitors to Tasmania. For over 18 years they have been performing at the Launceston Country Club, theatres around Devonport, Burnie and Hobart with their Bee Gees tribute show. They love performing in Tasmania and in their off time particularly enjoy the driving around Launceston.
This year the guys bring a brand new show to Tassie that has evolved from their successful Las Vegas show. The new show, which has seen much change since their visit last March. This time the show will be split into two halves, both a retro nostalgic 70s half, complete with costumes, sans the white suits, Michael is quick to add!, and a modern section. The Guys have also devised a way of quick costume changes during the 83 minute show.
The impetus behind the new look show found its foundation in feedback from audiences at the Vegas show who indicated that the two things Bee Gees fans wanted in the tribute were attention to detail and nostalgia.
It wasn’t always easy for the guys in researching for the shows in the early days. when there wasn’t a compilation album available so they would find themselves sifting through second hand book and music shops for LP’s and cassettes. With the advent of the internet and a surprise discovery in Hong Kong of a huge store that offered a range of Bee Gees CD’s and DVD’s the boys were on their way.
It’s a busy year ahead with US commitments (now having signed a contract for their Las Vegas show until 2017), an Australian tour and performances in Europe.
Michael who performs the role of Barry in the production says he hasn’t met the man himself as yet and perhaps needs to be a bit more proactive about doing that!
You can see The Australian Bee Gees:
8pm Thursday April 30: Burnie Arts Theatre, Burnie, TAS
8pm Friday May 1: Launceston Country Club, Launceston, TAS
8pm Saturday May 2: Wrest Point Showroom, Hobart, TAS
Paula Xiberras
