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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012 www.themercury.com.au 33
Thursday19.4.2012
MUSICGIG GUIDE
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Sizzlingsisters
Country queens hit road
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The Herd set to stampede
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Michael Bolton’s star is back on the rise through an unlikely collaboration, says Kane Young
HIT singles like How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?, How Can We Be Lovers?
and Said I Loved You ... But I Lied have helped earn US crooner Michael Bolton two Grammys, more than 53 million record sales around the world, and his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But his latest hit song will be missing from the set-list when he performs in Hobart for the fi rst time next weekend.
After fi rst airing on Saturday Night Live, Bolton’s collaboration with US musical comedy trio The Lonely Island, Jack Sparrow, became the third most-watched video on YouTube for 2011.
The Grammy and Emmy-nominated clip – in which Bolton portrays movie characters including Captain Jack Sparrow, Erin Brockovich, Forrest
Gump and Tony Montana from cult cocaine traffi cking fi lm Scarface – has now been viewed more than 76 million times, and Bolton hopes it’ll break the 100 million barrier by mid-year.
“A lot of people have been yelling out for it at shows,” Bolton said, “[Singing] the hook is such a pleasure, but then we’d have to go into rap mode, and we’d also have to do a lot of beeping (to censor the swearing).
“I was a big fan of the Lonely Island guys, but the fi rst song they pitched was a little too raunchy. It was funny as hell, but offensive to no end. I said, ‘I want to work with you, but can we work on the dialogue?’
“[Eight months later], I went up to New York to fi lm it, and it looked like they’re making a movie – they were using cranes, and lit this place like it was the actual set of Scarface. I think the budget only allowed for talcum powder, but I’m not sure...
“It turned out to be a lot of fun, they had me in stitches between takes. I want to do one more with them, we’ve just got to fi gure out how we’re going to top Jack Sparrow.”
Captain Jack may not make an appearance in Hobart, but Bolton – People Magazine’s reigning “Sexiest Man In His Fifties” – will be joined on stage by gun Australian guitarist
Orianthi, who was discovered by Michael Jackson in 2009 and has gone on to perform with Alice Cooper, Steve Vai, Carlos Santana and others.
“She’s a monster guitarist, and we love having her out on the road with us,” Bolton said.
“We’re going to be doing everything from all
the greatest hits to really multi-layered, heavy tracks, and there’s a segment of the show where Ori will come out and shred, basically.
“She’s amazing. It might be something in that Australian water – she’s down to earth, she’s the real thing, and she’s not all about herself. She takes her work seriously, but she’s a real person and just pleasure to work with.”
Orianthi features on Bolton’s latest album Gems, performing a new version of Steel Bars, a song Bolton co-wrote with Bob Dylan back in 1990 – an experience Bolton still doesn’t seem to
have gotten over.“It was an amazing, surreal moment
to be in the room with Bob Dylan – it took me weeks to come down from that,” he said.
“First I had to get over the nervousness that I was three feet away from Bob Dylan. While he’s talking to me, my brain is trying to process the fact that it’s him. For me, he’s the musical Shakespeare of my time.
“We wrote three quarters of Steel Bars in about three hours, and I was anxious – the rumour about him is that if you don’t fi nish the song, you may never see the guy again, because he’s one of the busiest people you’re ever going to work with.
“As I was leaving, he looked at me and said ‘so, when do you want to fi nish this?’, and that gave me a sense that it was really going to happen. When I left I was high as a kite. It was such a trip.
“I thought he’d be way too busy but sure enough he followed it up, and Steel Bars was written. It was the fi fth single from Time, Love and Tenderness, and that album sold 14 million copies.”
Michael Bolton and The Michael Bolton Band, with special guest Orianthi, perform at Wrest Point on April 28 from 8pm. Tickets are $94.50-$104.50, go to www.tixtas.com.au or phone 1300 795 257 for bookings.
LONG TIME COMING: Michael Bolton will perform in Hobart this month.
THE NEW
MR COOL
It was an amazing, surreal moment to be in the room with Bob Dylan – it took me weeks to come down from that
