The Corrs, Natalie Imbruglia, Toni Childs & Germein Spark Arena November 9, 2023

It was a big night at Spark Arena, possibly too big as The Corrs Down Under tour arrived with four acts performing for over five hours.

Along with The Corrs, we were treated to Natalie Imbruglia, Toni Childs and Aussie sister act Germein who got things started at 6pm.

Due to previous 13^th floor commitments, I missed the openers, but 13^th Floor photographer Chris Zwaagdyk got plenty of photos.

Toni Childs

I was hoping to catch all of Toni Childs’ set but she was already on stage at her scheduled time, so things were moving fast. Toni proved to be quite an entertainer. In addition to performing hits such as Don’t Walk Away and I’ve Got To Go Now (Toni had 6 Top 40 hits in NZ), the 66-year-old ended her set by heading out into the sold-out audience, singing and greeting fans on the main floor, to the delight of all. She sounded great and her enthusiasm for performing was infectious.

Natalie Imbruglia  

Next up, 90s pop sensation Natalie Imbruglia who scored bigtime in 1997 with her version of Torn. The 48-year-old was sounding fresh as she opened with What It Feels Like from her latest album, Firebird (who knew she was still recording?)

The former Neighbours star had plenty of energy as she made her way through a 13-song, 1-hour set that included old favourites such as Wishing I Was There and Big Mistake and even a new, unreleased song titled Habit, that sounded pretty good.

The crowd erupted when they heard the first notes of Torn and the Spark Arena audience became one, as everyone seemed to know every word.

Good to see Natalie has those ‘creative juices flowing again’.

The Corrs

And then came The Corrs. The Irish family band has been at it since the early 90s, taking a hiatus from 2006-2015 and now sounding revitalized and very, very slick.

The three sisters are all around the 50 year old mark, with brother Jim pushing 60. Sorry, to be going on about everyone’s ages but I admit to be both fascinated and impressed with the energy and chops these “older” artists have.

Lead vocalist Andrea looks and sounds great…actually everyone does including guitarist Anthony Drennan and bass player Keith Duffy.

The Corrs have a bounty of hits to choose from, and they get down to business with Only When I Sleep, from 1997, Give Me A Reason (2001 and Summer Sunshine (2004). Andrea pauses to tell us how happy they are to be back but the focus tonight is on the music rather than between-song banter.

Sharon steps up to play her fiddle, but finds her pedal is off. The brief glitch shows they are human, but the playing itself is not the stuff of mere mortals.

We get two Fleetwood Mac covers, Little Lies and Dreams and a Jimi Hendrix tune…a version of Little Wing that had me thinking of Neil Young’s Cortez The Killer.

But for me, I think I enjoyed the band most when Andrea took out her tin whistle and they all got very Celtic on Forgiven, Not Forgotten and Joy Of Life.

Drumming sister Caroline pounded the skins impressively and stepped out to help sing No Frontiers and the show picked up steam with a bevy of hits…Radio, Queen Of Hollywood, So Young…as the clock struck 11pm.

Still, there was more.

Runaway, Breathless and Toss The Feathers closed out the night and I suspect many in the audience were exhausted. I overheard one couple discussing that perhaps there were too many acts on the bill.

Maybe yes,  maybe no. Can we have too much of a good thing?

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Chris Zwaagdyk

The Corrs:

Natalie Imbruglia:

Germein:

Toni Childs (to be added)

The Corrs setlist:

1. Only When I Sleep
2. Give Me A Reason
3. Summer Sunshine
4. Lough Erin Shore/Forgiven, Not Forgotten
5. What Can I Do
6. Little Lies
7. Don’t Say You Love Me
8. Little Wing
9. No Frontiers
10. Joy Of Life
11. Ellis Island
12. Haste To The Wedding
13. Radio
14. Queen Of Hollywood
15. Dreams
16. So Young
17. I Never Loved You Anyway
18. Runaway
19. Breathless
20. Toss The Feathers

Natalie Imbruglia setlist:

1. What It Feels Like
2. Wishing I Was There
3. Wrong Impression
4. Shiver
5. On My Way
6. Maybe It’s Great
7. Build It Better
8. Leave Me Alone
9. Smoke
10. Just Like Old Times
11. Habit
12. Torn
13. Big Mistake