Forty years on, and with their messages of positive engagement in Indigenous rights and environmental protection more relevant than ever, GOANNA have announced an extensive national tour to commemorate and celebrate 40 years of their acclaimed, multi-platinum debut album Spirit of Place and the album’s truly iconic first single ‘Solid Rock’.
The band have announced the tour following a celebratory performance at WOMADelaide over the weekend and are one show down in a three-show run as special guests of old mates Midnight Oil on their farewell tour. These Goanna shows are the group’s first full-band shows in over 20 years.
The 40th Anniversary tour will kick off in June and go through to December. It will take in all capital cities and major regions, from the Top End to Tassie – currently around 25 shows with more to be added.
In the early ‘80s, during Australian rock’s golden age, Goanna came out of Victoria’s surf coast and helped forge a new national identity. Before Midnight Oil and Paul Kelly addressed similar issues, the iconic Solid Rock stoked a fire for Indigenous rights that hasn’t gone out, while the latter anthem ‘Let The Franklin Flow’ was a call to arms for the emerging environmental movement.
In 2022, the core trio and ever-beating heart of Goanna – Shane Howard, Rose Bygrave, and Marcia Howard (together with Spirit of Place guitarist Graham Davidge and several special guests) – embarks on a new journey, paying homage to their classic songs and reigniting the Goanna spirit once more.
‘Solid Rock’ remains one of the most resonant songs in Australian music. At the invitation of Master didjeridu/yidaki player, William Barton, Goanna singer/ songwriter Shane Howard opened ABC TV’s nationally broadcast January 26th Live concert this year, performing ‘Solid Rock’ with Barton, Emma Donovan, the Kari Singers and Iwiri Choir, along with a traditional Ngintaka (Goanna) Inma (song and dance), led by Anangu cultural artists, Tapaya Edwards and Rene Kulitja. The performance also featured a stunning digital animation recreation, by First Nations artist Brett Leavy, of ‘The white sails in the Sun’ of the First Fleet arriving in Sydney Harbour, witnessed by Aboriginal people, ‘standing on the shore’.
Released in September 1982, ‘Solid Rock’ struck a chord immediately and its use of didjeridu – played by Billy Inda of Indigenous rock-reggae outfit No Fixed Address, and Bobby Jabanungga – made it recognisably Australian. But its lyrical concerns would have the greatest lasting impact.
‘Solid Rock’ reached No.1 nationally. It remained in the Top 50 for 26 weeks. Spirit Of Place followed in December. It featured liner notes by previously unrecognised pop pundit, noted Australian historian Professor Manning Clark, who said “Goanna Band are not just entertainers – they are also serious… Their music is about that great human longing. They sing about the spirit of place in Australia.”
Spirit Of Place debuted on the Melbourne charts at #1; the first Australian album to do so since Skyhooks‘ 1975 record-breaking blockbuster Living In The Seventies. It reached No. 2 on the Australian Albums Chart within two weeks of its release and remained there for 10 weeks, alternating with Midnight Oil’s 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 for the No. 1 & No. 2 spot. Spirit of Place would go onto achieve 4 x platinum sales, and it has remained in print ever since.
Goanna disbanded in 1987 after countless line-up changes – members who came and went included much-loved Daddy Cool guitarist Ross Hannaford – and a volatile relationship with their record company. Several US tours ultimately failed to put the group on the international stage. A second album, 1985’s underrated Oceania, produced by Little Feat’s Bill Payne after lengthy discussions with Mark Knopfler failed to overcome conflicting schedules, only just cracked the Top 30.
After the release of Oceania, the group toured solidly for nearly a year and then virtually disappeared. Burdened by debt, exhaustion and personal collapse, Goanna splintered. A farewell tour ended, notably, with a performance at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 1987, with a line-up that included Indigenous artists Bart Willoughby of No Fixed Address and Bunna Lawrie of Coloured Stone. A disillusioned Howard disappeared into Aboriginal Australia, between Central Australia, the Kimberleys and North Queensland.
In 1998, Goanna released a third album Spirits Return, for which Shane, Marcia and Rose were joined by a new line-up including former Country Radio and Dingoes guitarist Kerryn Tolhust. The album reflected the band’s ongoing interest in what it means to be Australian and in the world around us; it included a Song for East Timor. Marcia Howard’s ‘Sorry’ addressed the stolen generation, and Goanna performed the song at the first National Sorry Day at Parliament House in Canberra that year. Soon after the group performed two shows for the Melbourne International Arts Festival at the Concert Hall, and then in 2002, a benefit in Geelong for the Balinese victims of the Bali Bombing.
In 2006, Shane performed Solid Rock as part of the Countdown Spectacular tour. He was joined by Marcia and Rose at the Melbourne concerts. Whilst it was a nice way of thanking Countdown and its audience for their support, it could not be Goanna’s swansong…
GOANNA – CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF SPIRIT OF PLACE
TOURING ON COUNTRY 2022
Pre sale begins Thursday March 17 10am AEST
General on sale Monday March 21 10am AEST
For all info: www.lovepolice.com.au/tours2022/goannaband
Sat 25-June – Tank Arts Centre, Cairns (Yidindji)
Sun 26-June – Hota Gold Coast (Yugambeh)
Tue 28-June – The Tivoli, Brisbane (Yuggera)
Fri 01-July – Mackay Entertainment Centre Yuwi
Sun 03-July – Pilbeam Theatre, Rockhampton (Darumbal)
Thu 07-July – Araluen Theatre, Alice Springs (Mparntwe/Arrernte)
Sat 09-July – Darwin Entertainment Centre (Garramilla/Larrakia)
Sat 17-Sep – Civic Theatre, Newcastle (Awabakal/Worimi)
Sun 18-Sep – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (Gadigal/Eora)
Wed 21-Sep – Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, Nowra (Yuin)
Thu 22-Sep – Canberra Theatre Centre (Ngunnawal)
Tue 27-Sep – Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre (Wardandi)
Thu 29-Sep – Albany Entertainment Centre (Kinjarling/Menang)
Sat 01-Oct – Queens Park Theatre, Geraldton (Jambinu/Yamatji)
Fri 07-Oct – Princess Theatre, Launceston (Tyerrernotepanner/Lutrawita)
Sat 08-Oct – Odeon Theatre, Hobart (Nipaluna/Lutrawita)
Fri 28-Oct – Lighthouse Theatre Warrnambool Warrnambool (Peek Wurrong)
Sun 30-Oct – Hamer Hall, Melbourne (Naarm Wurundjeri/Bunurong)
Fri 04-Nov – West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul (Boonwurrung)
Sat 05-Nov – Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo (Djadjawurung)
Sun 06-Nov – Wendouree Centre For Performing Arts, Ballarat (Wadawurrong)
Presented by LOVE POLICE