❚ LAST NIGHT IT WAS HOBART, TASMANIA, the first of eight dates in Australia for Tony Hadley and His Band, with John Keeble on drums and Go West sharing the bill. Facebook is awash with admiration from his fans down-under and he’s sounding pretty relaxed covering Feeling Good in the video shot by sabathiel01 (above) … We’re not sure what was eating Tony in the “losing-it” moment caught by Nyree Yali (below), while guitarist Richie Barrett didn’t know which way to jump!
➢ Update Oct 26: interview with Western Weekender in Penrith, NSW — “I decided to get together with my old mates from Go West because we’ve worked together before and been great friends for a long time,” Tony said. “People like to see musicians and singers mix together and have a good time, so they’ll be doing all their hits, I’ll be doing all my hits, plus maybe a song or two from my forthcoming album. I’m a big fan of bands like the Kaiser Chiefs and The Killers, so there’ll be some interesting covers in there as well,” he said.
➢ “Spandau Ballet made some crucial mistakes in America in the 80s” Tony tells The West Australian, Oct 5. “You can’t just have a hit there — you have to tour and back it up. We had a big cult following there but never followed it up. I took my band there this year and the reviews were first class, which is what I wanted. Now the agents are calling so we’ll work with that.”
➢ Upcoming dates for Tony Hadley and His Band include Nov 12 Abu Dhabi, Dec 1 Hamburg O2, and Dec 2 Berlin O2
➢ Reviews and videos of Tony’s first US solo tour in August at Shapersofthe80s and a few interview squibs as he said Good morning America!
➢ Convivial music and chat interview with Paul “Goffy” Gough in conversation with Tony Hadley when his 10-piece band played before 1,300 guests at the 8th annual Oyster Festival in Sedgefield, County Durham, on Sep 16, 2011. Lessons learned in life? “Don’t get the lawyers involved. It was an expensive way to learn about English civil law. I can laugh about it now. It cost me an absolute arm and a leg.”
Hadley in Hobart: At Facebook, Vivien Cumberland asks, “What’s going on here? Looks like poor Richie is going to get a smack in the face.” Nyree Yali, who took this pic, says, “I don’t know, LOL. Tony was pulling this face & my camera cooperated at just the right time to capture it. Looks like Richie’s thinking, WTF are you doing???”
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