"Timeless"
Sydney, Australia
March 9 & 10, 2000

The announcement that Barbra Streisand was coming to Sydney, Australia to perform two live concerts was just about the biggest news imaginable.

"Timeless" was performed at the Sydney Football Stadium.  It's a magnificent outdoor venue and home of the city's professional rugby team. Singing in this splendid outdoor arena marked Barbra's triumphant return to paid open air concerts for the public, the first since her concert tour in the mid-sixties.

In keeping with tradition, Barbra opened one of her trademark "Barbra Boutiques" to sell concert merchandise, videos and CDs.  In downtown Sydney, David Jones Department Store received the distinction of housing this unique specialty shop.  The "Timeless Teddy Bear" was available only in Australia and quickly became a rare Streisand collectible.

Also available at the boutique and the concerts themselves were an assortment of merchandise from Barbra's 1994 concerts, a nice gesture for the Australian fans who missed the previous tour.

Promotion was critical to insure the success of Barbra's concerts throughout Australia.  SONY Music Australia created special posters to tie-in Barbra's concert appearances with store displays for her newest CD, "A Love Like Ours."  Ads and billboards were all around town.

The rains wreaked havoc for Barbra and concert promoters.  For several days before the first scheduled show, it poured incessantly.  When the big day arrived, fans waited, listened to special concert reports on TV and radio and were finally given the official word at 5:30 PM:  Barbra's first ever Australian concert would be postponed for 24 hours.

But the show did eventually go on. The concert premiered on March 9, a day late. Barbra's Australian opening night went off without a hitch. The clouds held back. The weather was magnificent.  And Barbra gave her first Australian audience a brilliant performance.

Welcome to the 'Wet Album' - live!"  Those were Barbra's welcoming words to a soggy but packed audience on her second and closing night concert in Sydney.  The rains arrived and dramatically impacted the show.  People were clad in plastic ponchos, sitting in the driving rain while Barbra performed. 

As Act 2 began and with the rains still driving hard, Barbra reappeared clad in casual clothing.  She wore tennis shoes, an Australian bush hat and an outback rain slicker.  She asked the audience if it would be OK for her to perform in her casual clothes, promising to send everyone pictures of her usual Act 2 outfit.

Barbra's performance this night, perhaps because of the weather was the best of the Australian tour.  She showed her appreciation for everyone sitting in such inclement weather by delivering a rousing rendition of "Come Rain or Come Shine."  Not her usual encore, Barbra thought it appropriate for the evening.

Olivia Newton-John was among the many luminaries who sat front and center as Barbra serenaded Sydney on opening night.  Barbra introduced her as a neighbor and a friend from Malibu. Australia's Prime Minister John Howard was in attendance, too.  Controversy as to whether or not the Prime Minister personally paid for his big-bucks ticket would turn into a political scandal and haunt him in the months that followed.

For a complete listing of the songs Barbra performed in Sydney, go to Timeless Song List.