By ZAC STANDISH
LOCAL music fans are in for a treat later this month, as Australian icons Brian Cadd and Russell Morris join forces for an upcoming tour which promises to deliver all the hits of yesteryear.
The pair will hit the Latrobe Performing Arts Centre in Traralgon on Saturday, July 24 for the final show of a tour which takes in South Australia and NSW as well as parts of Victoria.
In the lead up to the concert, Mr Cadd spoke one-on-one with The Express about touring once again post-COVID, reminisced on old times and described his friendship with Mr Morris.
As he prepares to bring the show to the Latrobe Valley, Mr Cadd said Traralgon was somewhere that has always provided great memories.
“We are obviously very excited to play anywhere, but particularly Victorian country gigs as they are part of our DNA because when we started in the mid-60s there were a handful of venues that were already established and Traralgon was one of them,” Mr Cadd said.
“That whole (Latrobe Valley) has always been good for Victorian music, those gigs (in this region) have been around forever and I think one of the great things about Victorian music from the early-60s onwards is that we always had so many great gigs and a lot of that was having so many fantastic regional centres.
“I remember very, very early in my career travelling to Traralgon, before I was in The Groop, and I always think back fondly of that time and I really just love it all down there.”
Travelling alongside Mr Morris, he said it was a privilege to still be able to tour and perform alongside one of his closest friends in venues he describes as “the heartland of Australian music”.
“It is one of the rewards you get from living this life I suppose, we have known each other since 1967 and we have not only just known each other but shared a house together in Los Angeles for years, travelled England together and been on the road as a pair performing since around the early 2000s,” he said.
“To bring our show to these great locations is something we are both really excited about and we cannot wait to get started.”
Renowned for their onstage chemistry, which is so powerful they have a bromance referred to as ‘Brussell”, Mr Cadd explained why he believes they have been so successful as a performing duo.
“The reason why I think it works is first of all we play the hits so the audience get a great serve, but more importantly a lot of the people in our audiences now grew up with us so we have a lot of history with those people,” he said.
“Because we have such a lot of history between us the shows are really fun, basically he heaps it on me and I heap it on him– so it helps for the crowd to see all their favourite hits, but to also see two great buddies up there having the best time in the room.
“The other thing is where we are together on stage all the time, not him doing a bit then me doing a bit, we play all the time together from the first song to the last and it is a bit like being a rock band together with two main singers which is a massive thrill for us and the audience – and because we know each other so well it gives us the licence to have a bit more fun with each other.”
The past year has been a challenging one for the music business with the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in artists having to postpone or cancel tours for the past 12 months.
Mr Cadd explained how this period has impacted him personally and gave his thoughts on how the industry has adapted to these unforeseen changes.
“What is happening in our industry at the moment is people are just rescheduling and the venues are happy too if they have space put in on later, for instance I was in the middle of a tour before everything hit so things just got moved back and a logjam of sorts was created for later in the year,” he said.
“I spent all of last year over in the States being locked down in Woodstock funnily enough, so although the year was hard being unable to perform it allowed me to do other things such as write books while I also further valued the relationships I have with my friends and family.”
With restrictions now somewhat eased and the new tour on the horizon, Mr Cadd outlined what fans can expect from this upcoming show.
“We do all the hits that they expect us to do and the ones we are known for and we have found over the years of doing this show that we are basically playing for the same audience we did back in 1967,” he said.
“There is something about that era where they never gave up on going to gigs and now they are the same age as we are so we play what the crowd has always loved, but then we also play some songs that we just like from the era and a couple of new songs each as well, plus we always have new garbage we pile onto each other.
“It really is a very unique experience as being on stage together all night we play our greatest hits together and it just puts a whole different texture on how people have heard those songs in the past.”
