Music/ 50^th Anniversary “American Pie” Australian Tour, Don McLean. At Llewellyn Hall, April 16. Reviewed by IAN McLEAN (no relation).

NOSTALGIA was in the air as a predominantly baby boomer generation audience entered Llewellyn Hall to be greeted by a huge rear wall projection of the famous “American Pie” album cover. 

It was there to acknowledge and celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Don McLean’s perhaps most iconic song of all time and the nostalgia certainly did flow.

The now 77-year-old writer of more than 600 songs was greeted with warm enthusiasm as he walked on to the stage where he soon revealed that this was his 20^th tour of Australia since he first performed on our shores in 1973 and that he had been a touring artist since the age of 15.

Understandably, the voice is not what it was 50 years ago with some pitching difficulty in the upper register and a propensity to fall off longer notes at the end of phrases but, in the overall scheme of things, that did not matter in the end.

McLean is a consummate performer with an easy going, laid-back charm. He is totally unpretentious, which endears him to Australians. Besides his songs, his two hour, non-stop show was full of humorous anecdotes, fascinating insights into the meaning of the lyrics of many tunes, and genuinely interesting stories of his contemporary performers.  Philosophy could easily be added to his attributes alongside poet, lyricist, songwriter and his well-known moniker as the “American Troubadour”.

He has been classified over the years as a folk singer but his repertoire is much broader – he glided effortlessly into the genres of country rock, pop, blues, rock and roll and gentle ballads.

All the hits were there from “Castles in the Air”, “Vincent”, “And I Love you So”, “Crossroads” and “Winterwood” as well as lesser known tunes – “The Lucky Guy”, a fun, gentle country rock tune, “Botanical Gardens”, written here in Australia while he was soaking up the magnificence of Sydney’s gardens and a song he wrote while holed up during the pandemic, “American Boys Invented Rock and Roll”.

He was supported by an excellent five-piece band, some of whom have toured and worked with him for 37 years, as McLean pointed out – “longer than the sum total of both of my marriages”.  One of the guitarists, Kerry Marks, was the long term guitar player in Johnny Cash’s band so tribute was paid to Cash and Roy Orbison with “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Crying”.

As a prelude to the big (and, of course, expected) finale the audience was taught to sing along to a cute little ditty called “Tell Old Bill” then what everyone had waited for, 11 minutes of “American Pie”, with excited singing, clapping and stomping, even though the meaning of many of the lyrics still remain a mystery 50 years down the track.

Despite some vocal shortcomings that come as “age shall weary them”, this great artist performed a terrific concert that was enjoyed immensely by not only the baby boomers but by the many present from all of the generations that have followed.