I had intended to write this post last night after arriving home but frankly I was too wired up purely from the experience I had just gone through.
More to do with location than anything else, during the hey day of Doug Anthony All Stars, I never made it to a live performance. Sad but true. That made this chance to finally be at a DAAS gig that much more important to me. The trio did a reunion show last year to mark the release of their television show, DAAS Kapital, finally making it to DVD. The Canberra Comedy Festival did a great job in talking the boys into bringing that same show back to Canberra for the 2014 festival. Unfortunately Richard Fidler was not available due to his ABC radio commitments. But we had a real treat to make up for Richard’s absence – Paul Livingston, better known to many as Flacco, picked up a guitar to make up numbers.
We’re all a lot older now than we were in the glory days of DAAS. Tim Ferguson was in a wheelchair as a result of his now well-known case of multiple sclerosis, but as Tim says, he didn’t just want one sclerosis, he wanted them all! Livingston was more subdued than you might expect from Flacco, but it was Tim and Paul’s show, not Flacco’s. And to be fair, he has been struggling with a pretty crook back and is on heavy duty painkillers. But Livingston still had his own contributions to the show, including the tale of how Flacco came to be, only metres away from the theatre we were in.
The show was fan-bloody-tastic. It was songs, reminiscences, talking about all sorts of things, some interaction with the audience and Major Fun. You could easily see how much the boys enjoyed being back in their roles and working together. Scheduled for an hour, the full show ran closer to two.
As I left, I was on a high from experiencing it all. I was also a tad sad, knowing I am unlikely to ever see them like this again. Older, although perhaps not necessarily wiser, I probably got more out of things. DAAS inspire me while placing me in awe at the same time.
Well done, Tim Ferguson, Paul McDermott, Paul Livingston and Canberra Comedy Festival. You made a lot more than just my night.
Thank you!
Words By Ross 
Posted on March 6, 2014
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