Kamahl – My Life, My Music

This year’s OzAsia Festival had a primary focus on Malaysia – and no-one else epitomises the Australian/Malaysian connection more than Kamahl. Born Kandiah Kamalesvaran, he moved to Australia to attend King’s College, now Pembroke, in Adelaide, and celebrates 60 years in Australia this year. So, what better place to bring to life his one-man show, Kamahl – My Life, My Music, than in his former home town.

At 78 years of age (he will be 79 in November and shows no signs of slowing) Kamahl carries himself with the suave and debonair attitude Australian audiences have come to know, and his voice still resonates with a timbre that would make many a vocalist jealous.

He opened the show with ‘What Would I Be Without My Music?’ – featuring his immortal catch phrase, ‘Why are people so unkind?’ which raised a knowing laugh from the audience.

Throughout the almost two-and-a-half hour performance, which was billed as a 90-minute performance, Kamahl entertained the mostly older Adelaide audience with stories from his life – both within the music industry, as well as more personal anecdotes.

He opened the evening discussing his decision to stay in Australia, upon completion of his Matriculation, and the subsequent challenges he faced with the Australian Immigration Department. Into this story comes the unlikely saviour, Rupert Murdoch, who supported Kamahl over two years, to avoid deportation.

A number of personal anecdotes were presented throughout the evening, from his first meeting with his wife and his being made a Member of the Order of Australia (giving him his official post-nominal, where he’d previously called himself an OBE – Ordinary Brown Entertainer), through to his chance encounter with current US President Barack Obama (which inspired him to record ‘The Gettysburg Address’, which the former U.S. Ambassador delivered to President Obama). He also shared a collection of photos of the many and varied famous faces he has encountered across his extensive career. This whisked by, sadly, making it difficult to view the photo and read the captions, if you didn’t recognise those he was with.

Of course, the backbone of the show, as it is with any Kamahl performance, was the songs. These included ‘Memories’, ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ and ‘Treat Her Like a Lady’ – during which he walked amongst the audience distributing roses to some of the ladies in the audience.

As Kamahl confessed, he is ‘an incurable romantic and an eternal optimist’ and his recitation of ‘The White Magnolia Tree’ by Helen Deutsch, proved that, unequivocally.

He also sang ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ – made famous and etched in memory by Bette Midler, for Beaches – which he was given, after recording in the US and recorded, with limited success.

The downside to this charming and vocally impressive performance was in the staging – he was accompanied by recorded music, while an unused grand piano stood on the stage – and the lack of cohesive structure. With 60 years of entertaining under his belt, Kamahl has much to tell, but at times, the evening was quite disjointed. With assistance and direction, this could be a truly impressive celebration of an equally impressive career.

Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5