Savage Garden star's Belfast birthday bash
Aussie celebrates with gig

By Maureen Coleman

07 February 2006

There'll be birthday celebrations for singer Darren Hayes when he brings his tour to Belfast in May.

And the former frontman of Savage Garden is inviting his Ulster audience to join in.

The Aussie-born popstar, who plays the Waterfront Hall on May 7, turns 34 the following day and intends to stay on in the city to mark the occasion.

But he says being on stage in Belfast is the best birthday present he could wish for.

"I absolutely love touring and I love coming to Ireland," he said.

"I've been to Belfast before and had a great time.

"I broke off recording my third solo album to go on tour, so being on stage will be the best birthday present.

"And this time, the show is going to be a bit more theatrical and interactive. I'm going to encourage audience participation, you know, like getting people up on stage, which should be interesting.

"I can't think of a better way to mark my birthday."

Darren will also be hoping that there is no repeat of an embarrassing moment that happened the last time he played here in 2002.

"There was a problem with the lighting and the smoke alarm went off. It was a bit mad," he said.

On this tour, entitled "A Big Night In With.......", Darren has worked with US staple Willie Williams to create a show with a twist.

"I met with Willie when I was coming out of Savage Garden. He's a great person to work with," he said.

"He helped me design this tour, which is kind of surreal, given the fact that he works with the biggest band in the world. Actually he's heading off again to meet U2 in Australia.

"Both of us were quite bored with pop music and pop shows, so we decided to create something a bit different. Nothing is done behind the scenes. Even my costume changes will be on stage."