He hadn't mentioned, however, that the one-and-a-half hour concert would comprise such an overwhelmiing onslaught on non-stop hit songs. The duo has only released two albums in its six-year partnership, but as they ran through the oh-so-familiar radio-friendly hits, it became clear why these guys have sold more than 17 million records worldwide. They are the Pez dispenser of pop tunes.
The sold-out, concert bowl of 6,000 fans was high on the Australian duo from the moment they dug into the first chords of "The Best Thing", right on through their repertoire of sugary pop confections like "To The Moon and Back", "The Lover After Me", "I Don't Know You Anymore", "The Animal Song", "Hold Me", and "Chained To You". Unfortunately, a major blemish on the concert (at least from the side portions of the room) was the terrible sound, which made lyrics and comments from Hayes incomprehesible. On the upside, his charisma as a performer mostly compensated for the setback.
The show, designed by the people who created U2's Popmart concert, was a clever mix of tempos and quick dance routines. Singer Hayes and his guitar-playing songwriting partner Jones, lowered the tempo for a set of quiet piano ballads that included a nod to John Lennon's "Imagine", then turned up the heat for a sexy dance between Hayes and a back-up singer, then returned to rock mode for "Crash and Burn" and to the audience's intense satisfaction, Truly.
There was a deafening demand from the girl-majority crowd for an encore, and when the duo and back-up returned, Hayes was decked out in a white Elvis style costume. With the help of a couple of back-up dancers, he shook it up for an energetic and funny routine that perfectly parodied the King's Vegas of the '70s.
Just when it seemed there couldn't be any other hits to unleash, Hayes and Jones delievered in succession "Chained to You", "I Want You", and "I Knew I Loved You", then turned in a second encore with the title track from "Affirmation".
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