Human Nature caught in COVID flap
SOMETIMES you can’t win for losing. Or for singing and dancing, either. Human Nature’s tour of the group’s native Australia closed amid concerns about COVID-19 safety. The sidelined Strip headliners closed the series Jan. 2 at Sydney Coliseum Theatre in the
Rooty Hill suburb.
The country’s favored foursome of Andrew and Michael Tierney, Toby Allen and Phil Burton drew a healthy crowd, which was seated just hours before a midnight mask mandate went into effect in the state of New South Wales.
Absent the mandate, most in the crowd went without the masks. Australian media seized on the images of that audience. We note that none of the blowback about the performance suggested that Human Nature itself was responsible for their fans’ behavior.
Regardless, one attendee, identified as Ian, was quoted in The Australian as saying, “Mate, it was jam-packed in the auditorium. There wasn’t a spare seat in the house. There was no distancing between people inside. You were touching elbows with the person next to you who you didn’t know.”
He added: “I wore a mask, so I felt reasonably happy about that part of it.”
The Australian headline on that story, which also referenced a large wedding in the region, called out, “Coronavirus Australia: Anger at packed Human Nature concert, Sydney wedding with 700 guests.”
On the day of the show, New South Wales reported 19 new COVID-19 cases in a region that had effectively suppressed the virus. The Sydney Coliseum Theatre told the Daily Mail Australia that it had impressed on audience members the need to wear a mask even though doing so was not mandatory at the time.
Two shows on Human Nature’s tour were canceled because of the pandemic.
The group also was booked at Adelaide’s Bonython Park on Friday and Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Saturday. Those shows were spiked because of border closures in the country.
Theater operator Richard Errington said the venue was within its seating requirements.
“The theater was not full.
The capacity was just under 2,000, and there was just over 1,200,” he told The Australian. “We’ve been approved for 75 percent seated capacity, which must be ticketed and seated.”
“We love our fans,” Andrew Tierney said in a text after returning to Vegas on Wednesday morning. “Now we’re back, we are looking into future plans for Vegas and beyond for HN.”
In those plans are a return to the stage in Vegas, the venue and even the lineup to be determined because Burton moved back to Sydney.
Human Nature also plans a return to Australia in August. Those dates remain on the books despite fans’ conduct last weekend. As Andrew Tierney said, “nothing has changed at this stage.”
In light of the message
Gov. Steve Sisolak’s announcement that the state will extend the public gathering restrictions to no higher than 50 people or 25 percent capacity seems to have little effect on live entertainment in Las Vegas. But “Thunder From Down Under,” the adult revue at Thunderland Showroom at Excalibur, is prepped to be back.
Details are to be sorted out, but the guys can perform safely for a 50-person audience. As always, more will be revealed.
Di Domenico-stern summit
Column fave John Di Domenico made what might be his final appearance Monday as Donald Trump on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show. Di Domenico appeared 11 times on the show, dating to March.
In a rare move, Stern asked Di Domenico to shed the character as the bit closed. Will there still be an audience or appetite for Trump? Di Domenico thinks so, saying, “There are 74 million people who voted for him.”
The comic impressionist is sending the Stern team a demo of his other celeb impressions. Dr. Phil McGraw and Bernie Sanders are among his growing list of subjects.
We’ll see. But Di Domenico without question expanded his audience on the Stern show and forged an on-air relationship with the host, as he was asked to chat after his bit.
“Some of my comedy friends have been messaging me and saying, ‘He called you over to the couch,’ ” Di Domenico siad.
It’s a classic reference, and it fits Johnny D. perfectly.
Your ‘Sexxy’ moment
Rap star, TV personality and sex-tape co-star Ray J
attended “Sexxy After Dark” at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club on Saturday night. Ray J is tangentially linked to speculation about the recently rickety Kim Kardashian-kanye West
marriage.
You might recall that Ray J dated Kardashian oh so many years ago, in 2002, when he made a pornographic home video later titled “Kim Kardashian, Superstar.” That leaked video is often held up as a reason Kardashian became a national sensation, and the baseline for “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” launched a year later.
These days, Kardashian’s marriage to West is on unsteady spindles. And Ray
J filed for divorce from his wife of four years, Princess Love, in September. Is this a coincidence? And why was he in Vegas? Ray J reportedly had nothing to say about his ex (Kardashian) or other ex (Love) as his entourage spent about three hours in the club.
They just took in Jen Romas’
show, imbibing Don Julio 1942 tequila and keeping up with the scene.