Damien Leith instantly became a household name when he won Australian Idol in 2006. Since then, he has made an imprint on the Australian music scene as a singer-songwriter, producer, author, playwright and TV personality. With multi-platinum selling albums under his belt and acclaimed sold-out tours paying homage to greats like Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley, Damien is one of the country’s most beloved performers.
This weekend, Damien will join forces with Darren Coggan, bringing their critically acclaimed show Two Of Us – The Songs of Lennon & McCartney to the Regal Theatre. Darren is one of Australia’s most diverse artists who has an impressive career in the Australian country music industry.
Damien spoke to Glam Adelaide in the lead up to this Saturday’s performance about the show, his time on Australian Idol and if music has always played a big part in his life.
“I was about seventeen when I got into music. Prior to that, all I was ever into was acting. At seventeen I did my first school musical, and from that point I became obsessed with music. I started getting involved in bands and gigging wherever I could. I feel like I’ve been performing ever since then. I just love it.”
We asked Damien if there was a point during his time on Australian Idol where he had any inkling that he could potentially be the winner.
“Oh no, never! Not at all. As the show was going along I did think, ‘Okay, gee, I’m actually doing pretty well here…This is all going way better than I thought it would.’ But even right to the end, I was sure Jess Malboy had won it. I was prepared on the finale night at the Sydney Opera House for them to turn around and say ‘Jessica!!’…but they didn’t. I really and truly thought it was going to go that way. Honestly, when I went on Idol, it was purely just to get more gigs and more exposure, and it well and truly has done that!”
Damien and Darren’s show, Two Of Us, celebrates the wonderful music of John Lennon & Paul McCartney. Damien shared with us what it is about Lennon and McCartney’s music that he loves.
“I think you know when it comes to songwriters you really don’t get better than Lennon and McCartney. They just have that ability to cross a whole load of different genres. They wrote some incredible music in such a short space of time. When Darren and I were discussing putting the show together it seemed like such an obvious choice to focus on the music of Lennon and McCartney. They have a brilliant way of capturing a moment in time or a story and presenting it through their music in such an interesting way.”
With such a huge catalogue of music to work with, it would not have been easy to create the set list for this performance.
“When we first performed this show, the set list was quite different to what it is now. It’s evolved over the years. Originally, the show was filled with just our favourite pieces. But over time we’ve left in some of the hits and mixed in some of the obscure songs as well. Also, we’ve received requests from audience members and introduced them in. We’ve also added a string quartet to the show and that opened the door for the inclusion of so many other great numbers. To narrow it down in the end to just twenty numbers was a bit of a challenge and the show does keep evolving every time we perform it. We like to keep each other on our toes.”
Damien and Darren will be performing Two Of Us – The Songs of Lennon & McCartney this Saturday night at the beautiful Regal Theatre.
“The whole structure of the show is like you’re in the living room where Lennon and McCartney were, or in the kitchen where they were both sitting there writing songs. We’ve tried to create that vibe of two people, warts and all, sitting there and writing songs from scratch and then lo and behold there’s a string quartet backing it all up in the background. It’s a sing-along sort of experience. We also tell our own personal stories along the way. A lot of the songs are songs that meant something to us and we share our experiences with the music throughout the show.”
Two Of Us – The Songs of Lennon & McCartney
Saturday 5 October at 8.00pm
The Regal Theatre, Kensington Road.
https://www.trybooking.com/CSIYB