The Australian Bee Gees are preparing to hit the road in WA this August for the second Australian leg of their world tour, celebrating 40 years since the Bee Gees redefined pop music and culture with the success of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
Playing Bary Gibb, Michael Clift will dig out his old flares and dust off his platform shoes for a party to honour the most successful soundtrack of all time.
Clift said fans can expect a good time and an epic live celebration of the wonderful music written by the Brothers Gibb.
“The second half of the show is dedicated to the anniversary of the soundtrack and film and will be the full disco look in keeping with the era, even white suits,” he laughed.
“But it also happens to be the 20th anniversary of the one night only concert at the MGM in Las Vegas which was the last big concert that they did before the tour so that was very iconic for them and has been a staple of our show.
“The show is split into two halves and two celebrations with a modern look at the start and then we go back in time to the retro 70’s party, that’s a lot of fun.”
The Australian Bee Gees have seen much success themselves since their first shows in 1996, with a current residence performing at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas strip.
“We’ve been here seven years at the end of this year and have done over 2000 shows in that time and we’re looking to get re-signed again for another three years which will be phenomenal,” Clift said.
“We’re very excited to continue and keep going strong and we’re always expanding to take the shows to a lot more places at once.”
Voted Las Vegas Review Journal’s 2015 Best Tribute Show , the Australian Bee Gees have performed more than 6000 times across the world taking fans on a nostalgic trip down memory lane with their multimedia concert event.
Not bad for a group that came from very humble beginnings.
“We formed sort of by accident. Our group were trying to push our own original project back in the 1990’s but recording was expensive so we put together a tribute band to fund our project and promotions,” Clift said.
“The project ran its course but we still had the tribute band and it was turning out to be a lot of fun so we decided to put a bit more serious work and focus into it.
“There was no one doing Bee Gees in Melbourne back in 1996 so that’s how it all started and it’s worked out well.”
There’s no denying the Bee Gees had countless hits, many of which the Australian Bee Gees perform and celebrate in their show, but Clift said he can’t wait to perform one song in particular.
“As much as I love the 70’s stuff, I really love to perform To Love Somebody and some of the 60’s songs,” he said.
“I’m lucky enough, playing Bary, to sing it every night and it’s a phenomenal song and I really enjoy that one.
“We’re looking forward to getting to Bunbury soon to play it.”
The Australian Bee Gees will perform their Saturday Night Fever 40th Anniversary show for one night only at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on Sunday, August 13. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit bunburyentertainment.com.