Don McLean concert

I saw Don McLean last Saturday evening with my wife. It was her idea, I've never been a big fan.

The concert was at Penrith Panthers, and we stayed the night next door at the Chifley Hotel. The Club was good with lots of eating places, but I felt especially ripped off when I asked for a large coffee from the only cafe and they charged me $4.95 for one of the worst coffees I've had since I last walked out of Gloria Jeans. They tried to over-charge us in the noodle restaurant too.

The auditorium was a surprise. The seats were cramped, like school auditorium seats. Sit next to a big fella and you're in for an uncomfortable evening. No arm rests to separate the chairs. And the seats were numbered with a strip of masking tape on the ground and hand-written numbers. Incredible! At least the acoustics were good.

We had heard Don McLean was suffering some type of sickness and put in a disappointing performance the previous evening. So when he came out for our concert, the first thing he did was to explain that his throat was giving him problems and he wouldn't be able to 'belt-out' his songs. It was clear during the show that he was being reserved, holding back on the big notes. At age 67, he still sounded good, bad throat and all.

The first half of his set was mainly his slower numbers, notably 'Castles In The Sky', 'And I Love You So' and 'Starry Starry Night'. Eventually someone yelled out 'American Pie', which, let's face it, most of the people had come to hear him play. He invited the person who called it out to come and sing it since his own voice 'sucked' (McLean's description, not mine). But the audience member rightly declined, and McLean got into the song. Despite his voice, he did a great job, and the last verse made the hairs stand on end: 'And the three men I admire most/ the Father, Son and Holy Ghost/ They caught the last train for the coast / the day the music died.' What a great song.

The second half was mainly more uptempo numbers, including some Elvis songs and a great blues number.

The backing band was made up of four highly experienced musicians, probably his guys from long ago. They had it easy, simply there to be a basis for McLean to do his thing.

As a song writer, he is brilliant. His songs are devoid of cliches. Surprising rhymes and turns of phrase, musically pleasing to the ear.

He came out for one encore, singing a fun song about an apocalyptic view. 'All the people are scratchin / all over the streets / because the rabbits have nuthin to eat.' Very humorous, catchy, enjoyable.

My wife is a big fan. 'American Pie' is her all time favourite song. So she was very keen to meet him and get his autograph. So after the concert we approached the stage and asked the keyboard guy if we could get his autograph. He offered to take the book and CD backstage and get Don McLean to sign it, which he did. But we weren't satisfied. We hung around the stage door like teens at a Justin Bieber concert. After about a half an hour wait, he came out and was happy to meet us and pose for a photo.

All up, a terrific concert if you're a fan of Don McLean. I heard from the door staff that one person complained about his voice not being good, but what do you do? He was ill, and did a sterling effort. It was an honour being in the presence of a legend.