Bee Gees tribute sustains the ‘Fever’
What? Two costume changes and still no white disco outfits?
That’s apparently something the Australian Bee Gees get right, which guys like me — who knew the real Bee Gees mostly from the “Saturday Night Fever” LP cover — would get wrong.
If snicker you must, there’s the shagadelic red three-piece suit sported by Robin Gibb (David Scott) in the first block of the show. Topped by a wavy wig, it makes for a surprise impact when he and his brothers come back in black (and in Robin’s case, short hair) for a slick new look inspired by the Bee Gee’s 1997 pay-per-view special in Las Vegas.
Taking the Bee Gees beyond their defining disco moment is just one of the good instincts the tribute showed when it settled into the Excalibur in early 2011.
Back then, the Bee Gees seemed sketchy as a long-form tribute on a Strip more used to the multiple-choice “Legends in Concert.” How many people cared enough to see the pop trio fleshed out beyond the “Fever” era?
Plenty, it turns out, if you factor in the Bee Gees’ international appeal. As the Australians warble “To Love Somebody,” country names are flashed on video screens and audiences told to applaud when they see theirs. (Canada was deemed loudest at this show.)
And three years have only made us appreciate the Bee Gees more, even if one of the reasons is sad: Robin Gibb died in May 2012. With two of the three brothers Gibb gone (Maurice died in 2003), the tribute becomes more like a Beatles or Elvis impersonation; somehow more valid because you’ll never see the real brothers together again.
Now Barry Gibb as a live performer? He’s emerged to promote the music again. A summer tour reinforced his transition into the “beloved entertainer” status that’s come from singing with The Roots on Jimmy Fallon’s shows and even doing a walk-on for Fallon’s insane “Saturday Night Live” sketch, “The Barry Gibb Talk Show.”
All this makes it hard to argue against a three-year contract extension for “The Australian Bee Gees Show — A Tribute to the Bee Gees,” complete with major upgrades in the sound and lighting.
When they first hit town, the Australians seemed more like a band doing a set, not doing more to justify a ticket than John Acosta’s Bee Gees Gold, which runs free on Fridays at Santa Fe Station and Saturdays at Boulder Station.
But now it plays more like a real show with a flow to it. Though it’s still the rare ticketed show to offer a dance floor, the audience now is fine to sit until steered there for the homestretch of “Fever.”
The tribute doesn’t delve into Bee Gees history, or even dare use any photos of them on the video screens. But the ’60s costume segment, framed as an old “Midnight Session” TV show, does serve as either a reminder or a lesson that the group had a life before disco.
This particular evening started off a bit wobbly, perhaps because some of the regular cast was back in Australia getting visas renewed. Whether it was his voice or the amplification, Matt Baldoni as Barry was a bit faint.
The slow start and rough harmonies on “Nights on Broadway” and “Jive Talkin’ ” tightened up when the three crowded around a single microphone for spare versions of “New York Mining Disaster, 1941” and the less-heard “Run to Me” and “Morning of My Life.” The segment also establishes Maurice (Jack Leftley) as the group’s jester.
Later, an acoustic breakdown showcases songs the Bee Gees wrote for other people: “Guilty,” “Islands in the Stream,” “Chain Reaction.”
If you came to dust off your Hustle, Bump, and Bus Stop for “Stayin’ Alive,” don’t worry. You’ll get there, amid many takers for the dance floor Maurice proclaims “Club Mo.”
But for the pretty introduction to “Lonely Days,” or acoustic arrangement of “Don’t Throw It All Away”? No disco suit required.
Review
“The Australian Bee Gees Show — A Tribute to the Bee Gees”
when: 7 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5 p.m. Saturday
Excalibur, 3850 Las Vegas Blvd. South
$55.45-$66.45 (702-597-7600)
Grade: B
