Mytholoy The Tour

When his brother Maurice died, pop icon Barry Gibb said he wouldn't perform anymore. (Well, he made some exceptions, mostly for a good cause.)  Other brother Robin wanted the both of them to continue as The Bee Gees, but then decided to continue as a solo performer. Robin died last year, and Barry got into a depression. His wife and some good friend (among whom Eric Clapton) advised him to go touring again.

And so he did. He began the Mythology tour early in 2013, doing some gigs in Australia first (Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, for sold out arena's). Then a pause, and now he's doing some more gigs in the UK (Birmingham, London and Manchester) and Ireland (Dublin). The first concert took place in the LG Arena, Birmingham on Saturday 21st September.

As my sister was - and is - a huge Bee Gee fan, she wanted tickets at all costs. Due to illness, she missed the only Belgian concert of the Bee Gees in Brussels, sometime in the 90s, and so she absolutely wanted to see this unique concert. We had already seen Robin perform, shortly before his death, but Robin alone can't make up for the sound of the Bee Gees.

The tickets cost us 200 £ each, as we could not buy them from the LG Arena itself. We had to buy them from third parties, and so the price goes up. There were tickets for even 1,000 £! Now, we were lucky in this way that the guy who sold them to us immediately sent them by UPS and also that it were prime seats, right in front of the stage!

We booked a late evening flight to Birmingham (only an hour and ten minutes) and stayed at a hotel near the LG Arena. It was quite easy to go into town, as you can take a train from Birmingham International to Birmingham New Street, for only a little bit of money. We took some time to see the second biggest town in the UK, and of course did some shopping!!! I finally found the winter coat I'd been looking for, and also treated myself to a cocktail dress from Harvey Nichols for the coming festivities in December. Chris couldn't resists a handbag (DKNY).

We got back in time to have a shower and a light bite, and then walked the short distance to the LG Arena. The program started at 19.30 pm, with a local band (I think) which was quite good. An hour later, the lights went out for the Barry Gibb concert.

 

And boy, what a concert it was! Surrounded by his excellent band (among which his eldest son Stephen, his niece Samantha - Maurice's daughter - and backing vocals, Barry thrilled the entire house (which was loaded off with people around my age, but also with younger ones). Naturally he brought the hit songs which made the Bee Gees world-famous and still in hold of the world record of having five number one hits in one year, but he also did some less known work. The voice was still great and the falsetto even better.

The entire concert was mainly a hommage to his three deceased brothers: Andy, Maurice and Robin.

Barry took the time to talk with the public, made jokes and also declared his love for his wife Linda. The whole audience went very quiet when Barry began 'I've started a joke', the song that made Robin great. Tears rolled down many cheeks when a video of Robin singing this song was projected.

The whole concert lasted two hours and fifteen minutes, which is quite something. There were also duets with son Stephen, niece Sammie and backing vocal Beth Cohen. She worked with Streisand and other great singers, and when she brought 'Woman in Love' she did it as well as Streisand herself.

 

We were hoarse when we returned to our hotel, and of course we kept singing Bee Gee songs all night!