This concert was held in the Palais Theatre, a magnificent old art deco buiding dating from 1927:
Anyway, believe me, Leonard's concert was as magnificent as the building (which is only 7 years older than our man). 
The 27 songs performed (as posted in set list section) were executed by him and the whole band with the verve, class and highly honed skill levels we are all accustomed to by now, so I won't do an analysis in this respect. In terms of his usual early concert humorous "rapport establishing" comments, this time he acknowledged not only the endangering of the family budget (for the front rows), but also warned those of us up in the "high places" (dress circle heights) not to "lean enthusiastically"!
However, although the 'Tower of Song' spiel was a slightly more interesting variation on the ones I had seen before, what was truly unique about this concert were two sets of comments by Leonard in particular: firstly, he flattered us as a nation by saying Australia seemed to be in the "centre of things" these days (though I'm not quite sure how he figured that out)
and how we were an "exemplary country"; secondly, he shared with us a bit later that he'd had a medical emergency after arriving here, which our medicos needed to deal with urgently, praising them accordingly for their friendliness, competence etc. and indicating that some were in the audience tonight! 
So, another unforgettable night was had by all
... and it was hard to leave the place, really. 
Cheers,
Andrew
@ Palais Theatre 
