Geelong punters were treated to an intimate night of brilliant blues, soul and gritty rock tunes when guitar master Mark Lizotte, AKA Diesel, performed a solo show of greatest hits as a part of his Sunset Suburbia Tour.
With a career that spans nearly four decades, Lizotte has certainly done the hard yards in terms of touring. This time round, the ARIA and APRA winning artist included a run of regional and rural towns across Australia to promote tracks off his last 2019 double EP releases, ‘Sunset Suburbia Vol I and II’. Sunset Suburbia was originally a trilogy series, recorded over four sessions throughout 2019. With the two volumes out and greeted with gusto, Diesel and his team decided to roll the third instalment into an album instead, due out mid- 2020.
Returning to familiar territory at the Gateway Hotel in Geelong, the evergreen performer was as captivating as ever, stripping back and rearranging a host of crowd favourites including ‘One More Time’, ‘Don’t Need Love’ and ‘Soul Revival’.
Lizotte also shared his experiences growing up in the suburbs of Sydney and Perth, working night shifts and listening to his favourite soul and blues artists including Otis Reading and Neil Young.
He played tribute to these legends by including emotionally charged renditions of their classic tunes. Particularly moving was Lizotte’s take on ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay’ and ‘I’ve Been Lovin’ You Too Long’.
While it was a solo show, there was certainly no lack of density in sound, with Lizotte using his variety of guitars to their full potential, even using them as bongo drums in his instrumental magic.
As it was a dinner and show deal, the crowd were seated… that was until a few songs in when Diesel belted out ‘Don’t Need Love’ to get crowds standing and edging to the front for more of the action.
‘All Come Together’ was a joyous blend of soul and pop, while Hendrix fans around the world would have been proud with Lizotte’s take on ‘Hey Joe’.
Closing with all-time favourite ‘Cryin’ Shame’, Diesel once again left audiences in awe and comments travelling through the air that ‘he’s still got it.’
When: Friday, February 21
Where: The Gateway Hotel, Geelong
Reviewed by Sally Poehland
