Helen Reddy: my favourite concert
21 Mar 2013
Ask Helen Reddy about her most memorable concert and she just shrugs her shoulders.
“There’s been so many. I love singing and I’ll sing anywhere, anytime – and over the years there have been so many performances that are special for whatever reason,” she says.
What she does know is her favourite type of concert – and her least favourite.
“The worst show I can remember performing was outdoors with 100,000 people in the audience,” she recalls.
“Sure, it was a great coup to play this kind of show and to be able to command such an audience but something was lacking. I couldn’t see their faces so I didn’t get the feeling that I was really able to connect.”
Her favourite venue is a club – or a cabaret-style show.
“There’s an intimacy in performing in these kinds of venues – you can see your audience and get an understanding of their mood, their vibe,” she says.
“And with the casualness of the whole show in a club, I can work with my band and make changes to suit the audience.
“I do my best work in these kinds of venues.”
The 72-year-old has just stepped back into the spotlight again after taking what she calls “a 10-year holiday”. To do this she has left Australia and returned to the US, the place where she found her fame back in the 1970s.
“America got me back then so it makes sense to come out of retirement over there,” she says.
Her comeback has been organised around the venues she loves best on the US club circuit and she’s played in New York and Florida already.
And it sounds like she got it right about staging her comeback in the US – many of her shows have been sell-outs well before the event.
“I’ve still got my fans,” she says.
On 13 March, Helen Reddy performed at The Arcada Theatre in St Charles, Illinois as part of her comeback tour. Watch the video below.
See Helen Reddy perform
You can see Helen Reddy live in concert as she performs two exclusive concerts for members as part of the Probus ‘Christmas in July’ tour to Norfolk Island. See the Retreats section of the Probus website for more details and itineraries, or contact Trade Travel to book your spot.
W: www.tradetravel.com
E: [email protected]
T: 1800 645 103 (toll free within Australia) or 0800 443 044 (toll free within NZ)
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