Savage Garden Concert Reviews
July 18, 1998: Dallas, Texas: Bronco Bowl
From: Power Surge/Savage Garden puts the pulse
into pop
By Mario Tarradell, Dallas Morning News
Good electronic pop music is all about the rush.
When the synthesizers are cranking out a throbbing beat and the melodies
and the guitars are working in tandem, creating a high energy rhythm that
moves the body, the physical surge is irresistible.
At their best, Savage Garden, the Australian pop
duo composed of singer Darren Hayes and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Jones,
crank out music that makes the senses tingle. In concert Saturday night
at the Bronco Bowl, the pair had the crowd in a frenzy
during 'Break Me Shake Me' and 'I Want You.' The latter is one of their
signature hits, a pop radio staple from Savage Garden, the debut album
that has sold 4 million.
But it was 'Break Me Shake Me,' a cut from the CD,
that elevated Mr. Hayes and Mr. Jones above pop-flavor-du-jour status.
Angry, guitar-heavy and pulsating, the song reveled in its explosive mood.
Sporting a sneering, almost ominous expression, Mr. Hayes belted the tune
with a vengeance. The performance was so exhausting that it sent him backstage
to catch his breath.
That was the only time he needed a respite. For a
relative newcomer to pop stardom, Mr. Hayes knows how to work a stage.
He's got the frontman stance, the seductive moves, the dramatic flourishes,
the captivating stares. He understands that putting on a pop show means
entertaining the audience....
....'Santa Monica,' Mr. Hayes' ode to the facade
of pop stardom, was a refreshing, mature highlight. How many pop songs
have you heard that mention Norman Mailer in the lyrics? And the cry for
love at the core of 'To the Moon and Back,' performed early in the set,
is not your usual lovey-dovey fodder.
Which means Savage Garden may actually be around
longer than the Backstreet Boys and NSyncs of the world. For starters,
the duo's audience is predominantly older than the fickleteens. Moody,
evocative fare such as 'Carry on Dancing,' one of those gotta-move tracks,
is hard to ignore.
Yet if Savage Garden disappeared tomorrow, they'd
be remembered for 'Truly Madly Deeply,' the sinewy love song soon to be
played at a wedding and anniversary party near you. Now there's a fan connection
that can't be manufactured.
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