Presented by St Mary Magdalene Church, Jodie and Emlyn O’Regan
Reviewed 25 February 2018
Turning is not only the first concert in the Fringe series of music at St Mary Magdalene’s church, it also represents the first public performance of Jodie and Emlyn O’Regan for almost 18 months. Their acappella style, often with Jodie leading while Emlyn provides an amazing percussive harmony, ranges over a myriad of genres. They are brilliant whether performing jazz, swing, folk, gospel or original works.
I had no idea one of the oldest churches in Adelaide was there until today despite the fact that I must have walked along Moore St a hundred times, especially when coming out of the Arts Theatre. It is a gem of a venue. The only instrument used in the concert was an American Indian medicine drum which Jodie played to accompany The House Carpenter and the church’s great acoustics served to lengthen the decay of the drum’s notes.
Jodie and Emlyn filled the space with glorious singing moving effortlessly from a swing rendition of You are my Sunshine, a G rated version of Lavender Blue, dilly dilly – I had to look it up as Jodie had suggested to discover the naughty version – through to gospel and a wonderful collection of sad folk songs.
Such is the power of their voices that many audience members, and Jodie herself, had tears in their eyes when the duo came to the end of The Lady Mary song. It was such a moving performance and probably lots of us can identify with its hauntingly sad chorus: But I was nothing to him, And he was the world to me.
Their final number was a brilliant arrangement of one of my favourite hymns Lord of the Dance but I’ve never heard it rocked the way Jodie and Emlyn did it today. The audience clapped, whistled and cheered and were rewarded with 2 wonderful encores which most of us sang along with.
This performance set a very high bar for the Fringe series of Marvellous Music at Mary Mags but I’m confident the remaining performances will be just as enjoyable. Concert 2 features sacred music for Vespers from Renaissance convents, with Jodie in the choir, and Concert 3 celebrates the Church’s year in psalm and song from the 16th to the 20th century.
Reviewed by Jan Kershaw
Rating out of 5: 5
Venue: St Mary Magdalene Church, 26 Moore St Adelaide
Season: Concert 1 over. Concert 2 Voices of Angels 4 March, Concert 3 Times and Seasons 11 March both at 2.30pm
Duration: 60 mins
Tickets: $23, $18 Conc
Bookings: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/marvellous-music-at-mary-mags-af2018
https://stmarymagdalenes.weebly.com/
http://www.emlynandjodieoregan.com/
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