By TANIA PHILLIPS
SHE is one of Australian popular culture’s most eloquent and significant divas – a chronicler of love, loss and the mundane – she is Deborah Conway and she is on her way with partner Will Zygier to the Basement at the Gold Coast Arts Centre tonight.
It’s the first time Conway, who first made her mark with her remarkable voice with Do Re Mi and in the television show Sweet and Sour in the ’80s, has played the Basement – and the first time time she and Zygier have made the Gold Coast for a couple of years.
They come this time with a bag full of stories from their album Stories of Ghosts – unbelievers’ examination of Old Testament themes from a Jewish perspective, exploring the connections between ancient practice and modern life.
Stories of Ghosts sees Deborah and Willy treading a path through vengeance, forgiveness, grief and acceptance, examining existential uncertainty in the face of unchanging beliefs and coming to terms with the endless trade-off that life is full of – loss leavened with happiness, tragedy with humour, and sadness with joy.
Building on the acoustic instrumentation of 2010’s acclaimed Half Man Half Woman, Stories Of Ghosts adds layers of wood, strings and air, creating a sound that veers from delicate and melancholy to savage and fierce.
And while they have played these songs as a band and even a three-piece – Willy and Deborah will bring them to the basement the way they were written and recorded – as a duo of guitars and voices.
And don’t worry Deborah promises plenty of old favourites mixed in with the sensational new.
Who: Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier at Live in The Basement
When: Thursday 29 June
Where: Gold Coast Arts Centre
Interested?Tickets: $40 (adult), $35 (concession). Doors and bar open at 6.30pm; showtime 7.30pm. Bookings: phone box office on 5588 4000 or book online at www.theartscentregc.com.au
