Presented by the Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed Fri 11th June 2010
http://www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com
Venue: Artspace Gallery, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: 7:15PM Sunday 13th (sold out)
Duration: 60mins
Tickets: $27.95/conc $23.95
Bookings for all Cabaret Festival shows: BASS 131 241 or http://www.bass.net.au
Hailing from Sydney, Lanie Lane and Betty, her 1957 arch top guitar, presented an hour of blues in a traditional vein. Most of these songs were her own, with just a few exceptions, amongst which was Toxic, first recorded by Brittany Spears. Lane has a distinctive voice, high with a nasal quality, that suits her songs well and, although she often works with just her guitar, on this occasion she was backed by her trio of piano, bass and drums.
Many of her songs are in the traditional 12 bar format but her influences, although based strongly in the great names of the past like Billie holiday, and Muddy Waters, include a wide range of artists from the fields of blues, jazz, country and contemporary recording artists. This eclectic mix is transformed into a very personal style reminiscent of the 1930s and 40s. Among her own songs was one dedicated to her accident prone guitar, Betty Baby and, although her entire repertoire was most enjoyable, there is one song that I particularly liked, Red Accordion. Her gentle rendition of San Fancisco Bay Blues was also a big hit with the audience.
She chats to the audience and the band members between songs, in an endearingly easy-going approach to her show, with humour and a big smile adding to her appeal. A generous and enthusiastic performer, she was reluctant to finish her set, begrudgingly cutting songs to comply with the stated time. It was plain to see that she and her band were having as good a time as the audience.
Unfortunately, unless you are already lucky enough to have a ticket, you cannot catch her second show as it is sold out. She was excited with the arrival in Adelaide that day of a boxful of copies of her very first CD, announcing that, for the first time, she had ‘merchandise’ to sell after the show. If you miss her performance, therefore, you can console yourself with one of these. With a bit of luck we may, perhaps, see her back again for Womadelaide or, possibly, a gig at The Gov in the near future.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Arts Editor Glam Adelaide.
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