Hot off the back of the release of her great new album Rocky’s Diner Aussie rock goddess Sarah McLeod took to the stage at The Worker’s Club is an absolutely stunning show that proved that doing things ‘differently’ might be a gamble but gee when it works it also-bloody works.
Early comers to the show last night didn’t get an opening band instead they got a magician/illusionist/mentalist and I’m still trying to figure out how the hell she did most of the tricks (where is Penn & Tellerb when you need them) and then when McLeod took to the stage things were very, very different. The first thing you noticed was that there was McLeod and her drummer, Mick Skelton and that was it. Yet this was to be no acoustic set, no McLeod would be using a dual output and pedals to mix the bass and rhythm guitar together… and yes it worked amazingly well.
McLeod was flawless from start to finish and she gave the audience an amazing look at not only her new material but also glimpses of the past throughout her career as well. McLeod varied her sound throughout the night from a bluesy, sultry cover of Lead Belly’s ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’ through to the grungy sounds of one of The Superjesus’ biggest hits – ‘Gravity’.
While McLeod did touch on the music of the band that made her a household name tonight was really to be a celebration of her amazing solo career. She gave us a glimpse of her past solo outings with tracks from Beauty Was A Tiger including a brilliant rendition of ‘Private School Kid’ then a switch to 96% Love Song Book with a version of Get Your Stroke On that really got the audience involved.
This was to be a celebration of McLeod’s latest album Rocky’s Diner though so it was little surprise that she delivered some amazing renditions of her newest tracks which sound just as good live as they do on the album. After great performances of ‘Bad Valentine’ and ‘Giants’ that really showcased the vocals range of McLeod a member of the crowd summed it up when she yelled out “CLASSIC” during the slower ‘Wild Hearts.’ This was a night when we were getting to really see McLeod put on a classic performance.
The night was then capped off with a beautiful encore – the amazing lullaby-like title track from McLeod’s ‘Rocky’s Diner’ Broadcasting the track live out through the internet McLeod managed to deliver an amazing version of one of the best tracks of her latest album. The track was so beautifully performed it is sure to be remembered for a long time by everybody in the audience on the night.
With her performance at The Worker’s Club last night Sarah McLeod once again shows why she is one of Australia’s most talented singer/songwriters… she delivered a brilliant performance that left us all in awe.
Photography by Adam Russ.
