Review: Darren Hayes at Royal Albert Hall
October 04, 2007
Darren Hayes knows how to turn a dream into reality.
After selling millions of records with the now-defunct Savage Garden and dealing with his personal challenges, he decided to take matters into his own hands, independently released a hefty double-disc album and dreamed up an elaborate concert experience that is nothing short of impressive.
Last night's concert at London's famed Royal Albert Hall was a pinnacle moment in the roll-out of "This Delicate Thing We've Made." In many ways, the gig was a culmination of all of Hayes' hard work in the last year.
And Mr. Hayes likes to think big.
He successfully put together an ambitious stage show with designer Willy Williams (U2, George Michael) that was centered around a steel bridge that was moved around the stage to create a unique setting for each song.
The backdrop of the stage was a large projection screen that showed animations and photographs, such as bookshelves ("Waking The Monster"), a picture of of his childhood home ("Neverland") and mathematic formulas ("How To Build A Time Machine"). A vintage Savage Garden photo was even shown, which was a graceful nod to Hayes' past.
Dressed in something that can best be described as a time travel uniform, Hayes hopped around the stage, up and down the bridge, like a toy soldier, entering different show segments from the time machine set to the Savage Garden moments.
The Royal Albert Hall is a spectacular venue for any concert not only because of its legacy, but also because the room features great acoustics, which made Hayes' vocals soar across the dome. Especially, during the ballads he performed such as "The Only One" and an absolutely stunning rendition of "I Like The Way" with Steve Young on acoustic guitar.
Other highlights included a house version of "I Want You," a mid-tempo version of "Affirmation" and a buzzing performance of "Me, Myself & I" that brought out Darren Hayes' '80s alter-ego.
Fun to watch was the playful banter between Hayes and his back up singers, and the rocking Justin Shave who joined the singer on stage with his keytar.
Blow out performance was his rumored third single "Casey." A
gigantic origami bird folded out of the set's backdrop half-way through the song that brought the show to a climax. (The bird structure is so large that it did not fit two venues of the tour.)
After two encores, Hayes said his goodbyes to a thankful, adoring crowd who just can't seem to get enough of the pop singer.
(A big thank you to Brad for making it all happen.)