Cyndi Lauper
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC
Wednesday, April 2nd
Before Cyndi Lauper appears on stage, we’re treated to a sizzle reel of this proud freak-flag flyer’s extensive body of work – her impressive legacy and striking ‘lewks’ – on the giant screens. Then a shower of rainbow confetti rains down over the crowd – extracting these tiny pieces of paper from our pockets and bags will transport us back to this show over the coming days.
She’s synonymous with fun and female empowerment, and Lauper opens this ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour’ with her tongue-in-cheek ode to female masturbation, “She Bop” – resplendent with that recorder solo. Lauper’s 1984 single was included on The Filthy Fifteen list – songs the Parents Music Resource Center recommended should be banned – and was therefore released with a “Parental Advisory” sticker affixed to its cover.
Following her opening number, Lauper inquires, “Melbourne, how the hell are ya?” She then enthuses, “You know, I was famous here – well, and Japan – before the United States.”
In between hits and some deep cuts (including “Iko Iko”), she regales us with tales in that trademark squeaky Queens, New York accent. When a punter hollers something inaudible later on in the set Lauper chastises, “It’s not just a bang-bang show, sorry,” before continuing her story. Lauper also shares some stories of booze-fuelled nights out with Jon Stevens and Noiseworks, claiming, “The dishwasher was playing harmonica!”
Credit: Lauri Jean Photography
We’re warned early on that Lauper didn’t bring her dulcimer this time around.
Lauper’s backing band forms a straight line stretching across the back half of the stage. These masterful musicians sport black and white, which makes Lauper’s vibrant costumes stand out like a coloured-in portion of a colouring book. We’re told an old-school record exec with a combover once told her to “just wear jeans and a T-shirt” – how dare he blaspheme the fashion queen!
Among this evening’s glorious stage outfits, a long, black, Christian Siriano-designed structured coat with flowing train is the most glam.
“When You Were Mine” is an early highlight, with a purple lighting wash honouring Prince, who wrote this tune. After “I Drove All Night”, Lauper reveals she decided to sing this song back in the day because she “didn’t hear any songs on the radio with women driving.” She then acknowledges the freedom that comes with jumping in a car and just driving “wherever the hell you freakin’ want.”
Before introducing her percussionist Mona Tavakoli, Lauper points out that 20, 30 years ago women were told they weren’t allowed to play percussion. Many members of Lauper’s backing band have been with her since the early ‘80s, including musical director/bassist William Wittman, her friend since 1983, and drummer Sterling Campbell, who first attracted the world’s attention on her ‘True Colors World Tour’, which kicked off in 1986. Lead guitarist Alex Nolan shines supernova bright during her “Sisters Of Avalon” solo.
After she bigs up Wanda Jackson, we’re treated to Lauper’s twangy, rocking cover of The Queen Of Rockabilly’s 1961 single “Funnel of Love” (from Lauper’s Nashville-recorded country album Detour, which dropped in 2016).
Credit: Lauri Jean Photography
Lauper paints a picture of her childhood neighbourhood, observing that the colours of the shingles in her family home reminded her of liquorice candy, adding that she later realised this was “probably the asbestos.”
She reminds us it wasn’t too long ago that women were unable to open bank accounts without a signature from their husband or a male relative. Women had no choice in what they could do with their life or body – “kinda like how they’re pushing for it to be now,” Lauper points out. “But, you know, there’s a lot of us – we could stand up and say, ‘Hey, it ain’t happening.;” Lauper’s chilling abortion rights song “Sally’s Pigeons” follows.
Before performing “I’m Gonna Be Strong”, which represents her early days fronting the band Blue Angel, Lauper reflects: “I just wanted to have the same civil liberties as any man.”
Throughout her career, which spans four decades to date, this Queens-born icon with a four-octave range has carved her own path. “I knew that I wanted to tell my story in the rhythm of my own speech,” she explains.
“I remember singing this song on Molly Meldrum’s show,” Lauper recalls of “Time After Time”. Tones and I is welcomed to the stage to sing alongside Lauper for this one and looks suitably chuffed to be there – “Keep doin’ what your doin’,” Lauper encourages.
Credit: Lauri Jean Photography
“Money Changes Everything” rocks our collective socks off. Then Lauper makes her way through the crowd to a B stage, from which she performs the heartfelt ballad “True Colors”. Surrounded by fans (of the air conditioner kind), Lauper unfurls an endless length of weightless rainbow fabric. This Daniel Wurtzel-designed Air Fountain – a “living art” piece – billows while she sings.
“Always remember… God made all the little flowers, including the wild ones that grow on the side of the road,” Lauper reminds us.
Lauper was an art major and explains this show was “very influenced” by Sonia Delaunay. She also collaborated with Yayoi Kusama for the show’s closing “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” concept and explains Kusama wasn’t famous as a young person, but persisted and prevailed.
The stage transforms into a wash of white with red polka dots and we feel like we’ve just wandered into the National Gallery Of Victoria’s current exhibition. This evening’s magnificent support act, The Veronicas (how epic was “Untouched” and their cover of Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield”) return to the stage to join in on the fun, also sporting white outfits covered in red polka dots. Lauper sing-raps, “Girls, they want to have their fundamental rights/ Everybody wants to have their fundamental rights.”
In light of America’s recent political climate, support for Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Rights Fund is more crucial than ever.
Then it’s all over in a flurry of red and white streamers.
