On the 6th of March 2003, I went to see The Seekers for their Farewell tour at Melbourne Town Hall. I knew that this was going to be the last chance I would ever have to see them perform again. I booked my ticket to be as close to the as possible.
There was no support act. Initially I was worried that being in the stalls would be too far to get a good view. I needed have worried. I had a great view from the stage. One thing I noticed was that I was the only one my age there that wasn't with their parents.
At 9:00, the lights in hall came down. Everyone was silent. Quietly, The Seekers walked on stage. Everyone clapped politely. It was a real change in the type of concerts that I'm used to. Everyone stayed in their seats.
My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think their first song was, 'When The Stars Begin To Fall'. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Judith can still sing it as brilliantly as she did way back in 1964. It still makes you shiver to hear her brilliant voice singing it.
They did mostly their old songs in the first half of the concert. These included, 'Morningtown Ride', 'This Train', 'Colours Of My Life' and 'Puff The Magic Dragon'. One thing I noticed, that not a lot of people were singing along with the music. To me, when you go to a concert, it's only customary to sing a long with the performers. They stated, jokingly that if people did start to join in, they were going to go home! When they did, 'With A Swag All On My Shoulder', Athol told how when they'd first sang it, people though that it was called, 'With A Swaggle On My Shoulder!' Just before they left on their interval, they sang a sort of Hawaiian chant.
After the interval they came back on stage and started again. Judith was wearing a different dress. They did some more recognizable songs. Notably, 'The Bush Girl'. I've never thought too much about this song, but hearing Judith sang it live made it so real and alive for me. They also did their famous non-official Australian anthem, 'I Am Australian', which that ecstatically received by the audience.
They then sang the song that had been originally written by the by The Bee Gees, 'Massachusetts'. They sang it beautifully and one can't help but wonder how well it would have been received if they'd been allowed to sing it originally. When they done, 'A World Of Our Own', at one point, Judith shouted out, "Let's hit the roof!" After their hits, 'The Shores Of Avalon', 'I'll Never Find Another You' and 'Georgy Girl' (in which Judith made the audience say the line, 'A Little Bit...'), it was time to go. Their final was, 'The Carnival Is Over'. Then they walked quietly off the stage. The audience continued clapping. A person behind me was shouting out, "More! More!" For a little while, it seemed they weren't going to do an encore. Finally they walked back on stage and did, 'Keep A Dream In Your Pocket'. After it was over, the person behind me continued to shout out, "More! More!" To my surprise, they came out and done another song! Then after it was over, they took a bow and left the stage.
All in all, this was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. If you've never seen The Seekers perform, then you've really missed out on something special. It was well worth the $89.95 I paid for the ticket. I was glad I had one last chance to see The Seekers before they bowed out permanently.
(Note: the next year they returned to do some more concerts)
