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Born to Make Noise!

8/10/2007 10:21:07 AM

Review and Images by Joanne Baxter (To see bigger images, click them!)

Suzi Quatro @ The Enmore Theatre
September 29th, 2007

Suzi Quatro Live at the Enmore

There’s no pretence or costumed ‘hoo ha’ about Suzi Quatro, what you see is what you get and she has no problem reminding us of that through her songs and brilliant live performances. Her excellent autobiography “Unzipped” came to life for a couple of hours in music and words on the recent “Back to the Drive” tour, an exhaustive effort that is essentially Quatro’s enduring ethic.

The leather and the jeans are not an intended statement, there’s no mythology either – she was a rebel rousing Detroit rock chick before she knew what that was, she just loves wearing what’s comfortable and it comes as naturally to her as making noise, and what a great noise it is.

Suzi Quatro Live at the Enmore

"...She is easily one of the best live performers in the world."

Australia has long been the promised land for Suzi Quatro. Despite decades of touring here since the mid seventies, she is still a powerful draw card - made evident by her recent sold out shows around the country and the genuine love affair she enjoys with Australia’s media. Sure she’s not doing Acer Arena, but having had the experience of full throttle Suzi and her band at the Enmore, I was blown away, she is easily one of the best live performers in the world, and as for that bass, what the? Suzi shines as much as a musician as she does a straight shooting and passionate woman who had a lifetime of reflection to impart on an adoring audience. I had seen little in reviews about her musicianship on stage, so I was driven to acknowledge what an incredible bassist she is – it was like seeing Keith Richards live for the first time, you’re expecting art to come to life, but the thrill is still a scud missile. She’s a hurricane on that thang!

I was driven to acknowledge what an incredible bassist she is – it was like seeing Keith Richards live for the first time, you’re expecting art to come to life, but the thrill is still a scud missile. She’s a hurricane on that thang!

Suzi Quatro Live at the Enmore

The Enmore show was Quatro’s last of the Australian tour (her 27th since 1974), and along with her band delivered the hit catalogue with Amp planted on 11, (Can the Can, 48 Crash, Devil Gate Drive, Rock Hard, Stumblin’ In), as well as a great set of tracks from the 2006 album, Back to the Drive (which contains a great version of Neil Young’s Rockin’ In The Free World). The final song of the set was Quatro’s personal tribute to Elvis Presley, Singing With Angels, and while she tells a great Elvis story of her own involving a meeting with the King that wasn’t to be, surely the greatest story is that the Jordanaires and Jimmy Burton loved the song so much, they recorded it with Suzi in Nashville in 2005. That’s respect.

Suzi Quatro Live at the Enmore

The band were as popular as Suzi herself by shows end, with a prolific fusion of rock, honky tonk and jazz, and a brass section to die for. Three encores later, it seemed like Suzi was in for a long night, but such is her love of performing and her gratitude for her audience, she just kept coming back, and come back she will. She clearly loves Australia.

All too often it’s about selling out stadiums with bad sound, poor vision, overpriced tickets and poor performances drowned out by the anticipation of greatness that got lost with time or arrogance (or both). Give me a gig in a 2 to 3,000 seat venue with a band who are hell bent on giving the concert goers a great music experience, and you can have the stadium. Suzi Quatro’s shows are testament to what we deserve more of.

Born making noise? You better believe it. Suzi Quatro is after all the undeniable Goddess of Rock!

Suzi Quatro’s autobiography “Unzipped” is published by Hodder & Stoughton.

Suzi Quatro