Dionne Warwick has been in showbusiness all her life, and on this her One Last Time tour, its possible she might be exiting the stage, but even if that’s so, her impact will be felt across future generations of music- makers and music – lovers.Â
By the time Warwick arrived Sydney this year, she was nearly at the end of her six date Australian tour, and she was soon to carry on to New Zealand and The Philippines. Wherever she has gone, the concerts have been sold out and the expectant audience has left knowing that they’ve been in the room with one of the original greats, and no doubt for the last time.
Much like her career, Warwick’s set list was heavy on the Burt Bacharach and Hal David classics, which was exactly what everyone had come to hear.
Warwick was only 17 when she met the hit makers, becoming known as a ‘triangle marriage’, one which would allow all them to enter the public consciousness and create the zeitgeist.Â
She lightly peppered the show at The Start Event Centre with some anecdotes about Bacharach, who died in 2023, and David, who passed away much earlier in 2012, although both men were in their nineties, but what clearly shone through was the deep love that Warwick has, not only for her musical collaborators, but also for the music.Â
Totally in command of the room from the get- go, Warwick slipped into Walk on By and Anyone Who Had a Heart with lounge- room ease. She encouraged plenty of sing-a- longs throughout the night, which the devoted audience was already doing anyway, the songs already having been bouncing around the collective consciousness for half a century.Â
An occasional wobble in the voice was hardly unexpected from an 84-year-old who is still on an international tour. But the magic is still there, and the connections to the past gloriously illuminated.Â
Her four-piece band were clearly in awe and smoking it all up. Pianist and band leader Andrew Lewis was slick and sharp, and Renato Braz on percussion, Jeffrey Lewis on drums, and Danny DiMoralis on the bass made everything as easy as possible for Warwick, who was more than happy to allow them all their own personal flourishes.Â
Many will know that Warwick was famously a cousin to Whitney Houston, who she also recorded with. Her other collaborations are a who’s who of the 20th Century music industry, from Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Arethra Franklin, B.B. King, Roberta Flack, Barry White, and more recently, Krayzie Bone and Nomad.
Her stellar power over the industry Warwick has her ranked as number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100’s “Greatest Artists of all time”. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Apollo Theater Walk of Fame.
She is one of the most-charted vocalists of all time, and has six Grammy Awards. It was a complete treat to see such a master still bring out the best of the music.Â
Finishing up with What the World Needs Now Is Love and That’s What Friends Are For was wonderful and emotional.Â
Who knows how much music has been and will be influenced by Dionne Warwick. Millions know the songs, even if not her name. Millions know will know some rifts and some choruses. What a legacy and what a performer, and what a great gift her voice and her songs have been to the world.Â
Dionne Warwick
The Star Event Centre
18th January 2025
