When Brett Lee fronts Melbourne’s iconic Corner Hotel on Sunday night, expect the Aussie great and his mates with Six & Out to cover a classic or two from their old mate Doc Neeson.
The band of Blues brothers who formed when representing New South Wales in the 1990s are on the cusp of living up to their name in Melbourne and Sydney over the next fortnight.
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It will be a case of Six & Out when they wrap up at The Paddington RSL on January 4.
They will be able to provide an answer to the famous song from the former Angels frontman Neeson, who the band had the great thrill of performing with prior to his death in 2014.
“Am I ever going to see your face again?” Neeson and The Angles belted out in 1988.
For Lee and his brother Shane, along with bandmates Brad “Buzz” McNamara, Gavin Robertson and Richard Chee Quee, this is not a case of “No way. Get F***. F*** Off” but instead a chance to say a fond farewell to fans who have followed their careers.
And there are no tears, with Lee saying the band is finishing off with their hearts fulfilled.
“We’re done, mate. But we’ve been blessed,” Lee told foxsports.com.au at the MCG on Saturday.
“We’ve been blessed to play one gig, let alone 350 plus, or whatever it’s been, over nearly 30 years of the band being together.
“When we started, it was never about milestones or who we were going to work with, or who we would be lucky enough to perform with. It was just about having fun together.
“But we are at the stage where everyone is busy and obviously with Gavin going through his health battles five to six years ago, it was great to bring the band back together for a second innings, keeping in line with the cricket terminology of Six & Out, but it is time for us to declare. You don’t want to slide too far down that greasy pole.”
A successful band during their cricket playing days, with the quintet regularly drawing capacity crowds to their pub gigs around the country, a special request saw them reunite in 2023.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wanted them to get back together for a gig and, having enjoyed their time back together on stage, they pushed on for a good reason.
Robertson, who played four Tests for Australia, was diagnosed with a brain tumour after feeling pain while brushing his teeth one morning before a radio shift before Covid-19. It taught them all the importance of having a crack while you still can.
“The primary thing in the last four years has been that you realise that you’re 57 years of age … and that you are in the last third of your life,” Robertson told Fox Cricket a couple of years ago.
“And any of us could get sick and some of us might have, you know, a possibility of six to nine months to live. But you have just got to fight on and you’ve got to hope for a year.
“I was an off-spin bowler but my view of batting was that I liked to try and fight. I didn’t care what it looked like, as long as I could stay in and get another single away. Hopefully I could get one run. And then get to 50. And then onto 100.
“Similarly, I don’t care what life looks like, because it is not supposed to be easy or simple. I am just searching for the chance of tomorrow being good and really going for it. And if tomorrow goes wrong, you deal with it. And then you get up the next day and search again.”
But with Lee spending a significant amount of time overseas and the rest of the bandmates busy with band and family, it will prove a case of last drinks at The Corner and Paddington RSL.
The memories, the Fox Cricket expert analyst said, will live on for a long time to come.
“It’s been the most amazing journey and we’ve had the absolute pleasure to play with some superstars of the music world,” Lee said.
“From the boys from INXS to Steve Balbi from Noiseworks to Doc Neeson to Garth Porter from Sherbet to Daryl Braithwaite, the list goes on and on. And as a music lover that to me is one of my biggest achievements, because I’m so passionate about music.
“There is an appreciation of what we have done. But like anything when you decide that you want to call it a day, with me living overseas now and everyone else being busy, and we’re all getting older … it’s hard to put into words exactly why, but we know it is the right time.”
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