It’s been 18 years since veteran rocker Lenny Kravitz graced Australian shores. Upon his return, Kravitz bought some friends with him for his Australian tour.
After sell-out performances in Melbourne, Wollongong and Sydney (Perth was cancelled), Kravitz and crew graced the Brisbane River Stage on Saturday 24th March. With gates opening at 5pm, Australian rockers Wolfmother warmed the crowd’s necks with their rocking tunes for roughly an hour. With minor audience interaction – just a simple “Thanks for supporting us, here’s our song <insert title here>” – the 1/4 full crowd started to psyche up when their title hits Woman and The Joker & The Thief were blasted from the speakers.
After a 15 minute break, Irish rockers The Cranberries politely walked out on stage, jumping into their well known tracks. Surprisingly, Ode To My Family, Dreams and Linger were played early in their 1 hour and 15 minutes of stage time. Lead singer Dolores O’Riordan did pause for a minute to interact with a die-hard fan down the front, before finishing off their playlist, ending with the classic Zombie.
With a 20 minute break, the man himself Lenny Kravitz strutted out on stage, breaking straight into his signature tunes. Most of his chart topping songs were performed, from Mr Cab Driver, Are You Gonna Go My Way, American Woman, It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over, Believe, Fly Away and more. Kravitz stopped for a few minutes to explain that he was ‘under the weather’ with a hoarse throat, which resulted in some of his performances being vocally stilted. This didn’t deter the audience from blowing their lungs out, singing and yelling lyrics at the top of their voices to help out. The band support were all equally levelled – the brass section was clearly heard, while keyboards were given a scorcher use. A lucky fan’s day in the front row was made when he stopped to have a brief chat with them, wearing their hat and expressing how much he ‘loved her’.
During the encore, an extra long version of Let Love Rule was played, with the sound on the extra distance range speakers cutting out for a minute before coming back on. Kravitz hopped off the stage to walk through the crowd, walking mid-way and ‘sharing the love and connection’ before going back on stage to wrap up the first hit of his solo career. An ear-gasmic performance, with fun had by all.
Performance date: 24/3/12
Location: Brisbane Riverstage, Brisbane.
