Live Review: Richard Marx
Songwriter Tour at The Astor Theatre, Perth Western Australia, 10 March 2023
By Sheldon Ang
Photography by Sheldon Ang Photography
The icon swings his arms and points at third row – hell yeah, endorsing the floor shenanigans of an unbridled kind. He strums and shreds the strings with urgency, maniacally spinning and raising the head like a competitor in the ultimate air guitar championship, but without the showy tag of wannabes. The crowd raised their fists in rock god gestures, as bodies fused in the fan-designated mini mosh pit. Is this a rock concert, or a festival of love struck and the broken souls? The self-appointed back up vocalists of an eclectic semblance sing to the chorus, only to be punctuated by the crescendo that couldn’t be matched by most, if any. The rhythm section tremors, climaxing the heightened anticipation, prompting him to twists his body, then leaping with bended knees and swinging his guitar like the finale of a Paul Stanley antics.
Lights out.
Richard Marx is the only male artist in history to land the first seven singles on top five of the Billboard Charts. After selling over 30 million album, one would imagine the singer songwriter could’ve performed to sell-out arenas across the world, considering all seats were sold shortly after tickets went on sale across Australia. But the American artist has always been about fan engagement since the early days, preferring to carry out his trade at intimate venues. For the lucky ones who managed to secure tickets, there was a brewing sense of surrealness even before he graced the stage.
He sparked the night with Believe in Me, Take This Heart and the classics Endless Summer Nights and Angelia. By the first chorus of the opening song from the latest album Songwriter, fans of below the tender age of fifty had cramped towards the stage.
“There are so many f*cking rules. So I’ve spoken to the security at Astor, telling them there are no rules tonight. So you can come up here and dance all night, and nobody is gonna hassle you, or you can sit down – it’s totally up to you.”
The stylistic benchmark had already been locked, stocked and barrelled early in the setlist; as fans were drenched under the nostalgic rain of rock, dance, pop and old school bad ass ballads through the world class showmanship and the infectious stage presence of Richard Marx, coupled by exceptional musicianship and vocal delivery that remained intact since the late 80’s. The performance of Endless Summer Night was nostalgically summery and iced cool, underscored by the booming deep bass and sumptuous drum kicks. Those reflective, reacquainting-the-past-memory story telling vibe was lyrically ushered with palpable sincerity – unhindered since 1987.
“We are going to play the hits for you tonight…if I bought tickets to Harry Styles, and I paid for f*cking parking tickets, dinner and the whole nine yards, and I got to the gig and he was like, ‘Oh, I don’t feel like playing As It Was tonight’, I’d be like, ‘F*ck You Harry.’”
But Richard Marx is a legendary songwriter – with an emphasis on present tense. After almost thirty five years in the business, he’s still producing commercially successful hits, the latest through his album Songwriter, released last year.
“We’ll also play two or three songs from my latest album…I’m fifty-nine years old for god sake…this song got radio play, and gone onto the charts as a top 15 single…and can you imagine me writing a top 15 single with one of my spawns – that’s the greatest thing”
For those who were dancing to the featured single Same Heart, Different Day of Songwriter for the first time, they would traverse into country rock, dance and pop stylings, seemingly embracing the modern sounds through head nodding in cadence to the catchy beat. Marx also rocked with the likes of Front Row Seat and Just Go from the Limitless and Songwriter albums. The former single was undeniably co-written by Keith Urban, as evident by the warm and summery guitar driven melodies.
Keith Urban’s hit Long Hot Summer was another Aussie tag of the night. A toast was also raised to John Farnham, sprinkling humour on a serious matter. “John told me, I got a name for your kid…Skit (get it?)…anyway this is to you John, get well soon mate, we need you back on stage”. The other local connection is drummer Jackie Barnes sharing the stage, a family name synonymous with Aussie rock.
Richard Marx is malleable on stage; switching between a rocker and a crooner as he sat for an acoustic solo under the blue hues, slithering through the vulnerable moments in Hold On to the Night and Now and Forever, transporting fans to the chapters of their first love, first time and the inaugural moments of ecstasy and poignancy. That is the power of great song writing and vocal delivery. Marx specialises in cultivating those lingering, burning memory buried for many decades through his lyrics and performance, making him one of the greatest in his craft.
Hazard was at the encore, before sitting on the Maybach, initially teasing with the intro of Easy by the Commodores. Finally, the journey ended at one of the greatest ballads ever to weave through the world’s airwaves; Right Here Waiting, the seminal piece that engrained Marx into the history books as one of the greatest singer song writers (although he initially wrote it for Barbara Streisand). As this writer recalls in an interview while he was listening in his brother’s Datsun 180B (“The Tank”) in 1989, “I didn’t want to release this song because it was too personal. But my friends encouraged me.” As they say – the rest is history, as the ballad topped the global charts including the Billboard Hot 100. From Verse 1 to the Chorus, the delivery was sublime, driven by the sincerity and vulnerability of a distant heart, and climaxing with the high register at the end of the Bridge, I’ll take the chance.
Artists and artistry come and go through the undulating soundscapes of social trajectory, but great song writing is timeless. Entwined with a unforgettable performance, it will be a while before Richard Marx smashes his guitar to a point of no return.
Visit Richard Marx site for tickets and info of the current tour.
Sheldon Ang Media expresses his gratitude to Frontier Touring and Richard Marx for the Photo Accreditation and reviewer tickets.
About the Writer/Photographer: Sheldon Ang Media (est. April 2022) have been accredited to photograph and review the hottest acts in Perth, including Rod Stewart, Florence + The Machine, Harry Styles, Backstreet Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Post Malone, Sting, KISS, and RnB Fridayz Live, with reviews shared by the likes of UB40, Delta Goodrem, The Fabolous Caprittos and Synthony on social media. He has interviewed rockers Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Ian Moss (Cold Chisel) and forty other legends.
