Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Human Nature celebrating several milestones and a three-year extension on the Strip

Human Nature

Denise Truscello

Human Nature recently received the Medal of the Order of Australia.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Human Nature, the Australian quartet of Andrew Tierney, Mike Tierney, Phil Burton and Toby Allen, has extended its residency at the Venetian’s Sands Showroom for another three years into 2022. The group’s current “Jukebox” production is one of the sharpest shows on the Strip, a constant crowd-pleaser, and the only regularly running show at the Venetian and Palazzo properties.

“We feel lucky that we’re still here, for one, still able to keep doing a show [when] things have come and gone,” says Mike Tierney. “It’s awesome for us to be only show on the property and we’re in a room that’s a great size for us, one that we feel comfortable in. We hear about some [new] things on the grapevine that might be happening and hopefully some great things will come in beside us.”

The extension is just one of several significant Human Nature happenings in 2019. May will mark ten years in Las Vegas for the harmonious Aussies and six years at the Venetian, and the springtime also brings the Little More Love Tour of their distant homeland, a celebration of 30 years together as a group.

The guys were recently honored with the Medal of the Order of Australia, a rare honor recognizing artistic achievement and service to their fellow citizens and community.

“Americans liken it to a sainthood but it’s not exactly that. We don’t usually correct them,” jokes Andrew, the older Tierney brother. “As entertainers you don’t ever think your country would hold you up as ambassadors. We have done a lot of charity work over the years but never saw it as a task, we just get called on and it’s easy for us to give back. It’s really cool.”

Human Nature’s current live show is a fast-paced, spirited culmination of the group’s long career, incorporating a lot of the classic Motown material that helped the guys break through to a global audience mixed with other hits from different eras.

“When you spend 30 years performing those songs you get a pretty good idea of [what works,” says Allen. “It’s not just about us enjoying it, but that is the majority of the [song] choices, plus how you can fit other songs alongside them. When thinking about this new show, the tour we’re about to do in Australia, we sat down and spent a lot of time on the setlist, thinking about how it’s going to feel to perform those songs in order and swapping things around.”

Unlike so many of the so-called “resident headliners” on the Strip, the members of Human Nature really are Las Vegas residents and a decade spent performing here has created a great level of comfort for the synchronized singers.

“We try to get back to Australia once or twice a year but we have to base our lives here with that schedule, and we’ve really enjoyed being Las Vegans in the last ten years,” says Mike Tierney. “We know it well and it feels like home. We’ve seen a lot of things change over that time, particularly on the Strip, and it’s been interesting to see those changes in the entertainment culture.”

Human Nature’s “Jukebox” is performed at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at the Sands Showroom at the Venetian (702-414-9000) and more information can be found at humannaturelive.com.