Since the two met during rehearsals for an Australian production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” in 1975, Air Supply has been ever-present on the road, to the tune of 130 dates per year — hitting the 5500th live show milestone in fall 2024.
Celebrating a half-century of performing, Air Supply announced a return to the Rose Music Center on Sunday, Aug. 3.
I spoke with singer Russell Hitchcock ahead of the show, to reflect on the band’s intimate rock legacy, and to see what the road looks like for the duo moving forward.
“When you first start making records, I think you want to have a number one somewhere. You want to have a million-selling album,” Hitchcock said. “You think about it, but you don’t think it’s ever going to happen. It’s a great honor and certainly a thrill for us after all these years.”
The defining thread of Air Supply’s music is love, because love is universal — we fall into it, lose it, chase it, or never quite find it.
For Graham Russell — Air Supply’s primary songwriter — love has always been great source material. He’s an observer, and the universal emotion has been a fountain of lyrics from which he’s dipped into for 50 years.
“Everybody wants to be in love. Everybody wants to be happy,” Hitchcock said. “That’s another reason why we’ve been doing this for so long, and so successfully. No matter where we play, at any given venue, any given day of the year, any country, when you start to play a song that people know, you see it in their eyes. They relate to that song really deeply. They know the song. They know us. They know the experience.”
Of all of the venues Air Supply has played, one recent moment stands out in Hitchcock’s memory.
He described the sold-out May performance at Carnegie Hall as unlike anything the band had experienced before. When the houselights went down, they could hear the rumbles of the crowd from behind a wooden stage door. When they walked out, every person in the audience stood before the band played a single note.
“It gives me goose bumps talking about it now,” Hitchcock said. “It was one of the few times where at the end of the show, I was actually brought to tears with the occasion. It meant the world to me and Graham. We may never get to do it again, but we did it and we sold it out, and it was an incredible evening.”
Hitchcock can’t write songs and doesn’t want to; Russell can write them but prefers to stay out of the spotlight as a frontman. Their differences — artistic and personal — have helped keep them in sync. There is mutual respect as both musicians and business partners, but they typically don’t see each other when they’re not working — Hitchcock’s in Southern California, and Russell’s in the mountains of Utah.
All of these factors have seemingly contributed to the longevity of the band: Like the love they often sing about, the two need each other, but recognize when they need time apart.
In addition to the tour, Air Supply is marking the 50th anniversary milestone with its 18th studio album, “A Matter of Time” — expected to be out later this year — along with a biopic, “All Out of Love: The Air Supply Story,” that’s currently in production.
“I appreciate every day being above the ground,” Hitchcock reflected. “Certainly being able to do this with Graham and the other members of the entourage is just something else. I never take it for granted.”
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio, spotlighting local musicians, underground and touring bands, cultural events, fringe phenomena and creative spaces. He buys duplicate copies of every Chuck Klosterman book, and sometimes makes music. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Air Supply
When: 8 p.m. Aug. 3
Where: Rose Music Center, 6800 Executive Blvd., Huber Heights
Cost: $41.50-$88.50
Tickets: rosemusiccenter.com
