Photo by KLowe Photography

Considering it was a Wednesday night in Perth, Crown Theatre was starting to fill out nicely and there was a buzz about the room as everyone waited excitedly for Bonnie Tyler.

Well known Perthonality, Tod Johnston was first to take the stage with his band and opened with a couple of covers, Bellamy Brothers Let Your Love Flow and Elvis Presley’s Little Sister.

“The great joy about music is being able to tell a story through music.” Johnston told the audience before breaking out with some original songs. “MORE!” a punter screamed out. Johnston replied with a big smile, “Thanks Mum!” and with that one comment, he had completely won the audience over.

Their original songs were well received and showed everyone just how talented they are. Not only that but they were clearly having a lot of fun on stage and there is nothing more enjoyable than watching a band that is happy to be performing. “We were trying to work out what song to end with. This is for all support acts globally.” Johnston told us as they finished with Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark and a song from his old band, V Capri Haunting Me.

Photo by KLowe Photography

While the theatre still wasn’t packed out, at least by the time Bonnie Tyler came on, there was a decent amount of people there – all excited for the night ahead (albeit with the slight trepidation that comes when you are about to see someone as iconic as Bonnie Tyler – will she live up to your expectations?).

Tyler started with a couple of covers, CCR’s Have You Seen The Rain, Carrie Underwood’s Flat On The Floor and Bee Gees’ To Love Somebody (which she dedicated to the late Robin Gibb). By this stage, she had everyone singing along to the chorus and she showed us that her voice had not deteriorated in the slightest. In fact, she was a ball of pure energy and so happy to be performing on stage.

Something that is great about seeing performers like Tyler is that you get to hear stories about how they came about. In Tyler’s case, she had been discovered after playing with a local band for 7 years and was discovered by accident in Swansea when a scout went to the wrong floor and heard her playing (rather than the boy he was supposed to go and listen to!). Her 1^st demo was Lost In France and released in 1976. “Thank God for botox.” she told us.

Her next song, It’s A Heartache gave Tyler her first hit in America in 1978 and had people dancing in their seats, phones out and everyone singing loudly. She told us about how Bryan Adams came into the studio one day and told her that he thought she would do a great version of Straight From The Heart. He made her nervous as hell as he hung around while she was recording it.

Photo by KLowe Photography

In her meet and greet earlier, she had met three sisters who unfortunately, had an empty seat next to them at the front. A seat empty because their mother, Marie, was too sick – breast cancer. She had given them microphones and got them to sing Total Eclipse Of The Heart that was dedicated to Marie. If there was anyone there that didn’t already love Bonnie Tyler, the fact that she had actually taken the time to speak to her fans earlier and organised for them to help sing the song, just showed everyone there just how much of a genuine and lovely person she is.

Tyler also played Faster Than The Speed Of Night before walking off stage. When they came back on for the encore, she introduced the band, her manager of 31 years and her husband who she has been married to for 44 years.

She sung Janis Joplin’s Turtle Blues, an Ike & Tina Turner song River Deep Mountain High (which she used to sing into a hairbrush when she was 16) and told the audience that Tina Turner had actually turned one of her songs into a Number 1 hit all over the world. While we all know the song as Simply The Best, Tyler recorded it first and it was known as The Best.

Tyler’s last song for the night, Holding Out For A Hero had everyone standing up and dancing and singing loudly. “Thank you! You’ve been marvellous! Good night!” she told the audience as she left the stage.

While it was a shame the concert was over (we could have listened to her wonderful Welsh accent all night), Bonnie Tyler put on a spectacular show. She was funny, sincere and clearly enjoyed being there. There will definitely be a lot of people holding out in hope that she will visit us again in the near future.