Reviewed by: Play & Go Adelaide
Review by Sharon Harrington | 25 February 2024
Winner of Adelaide Fringe’s ‘Best Music Award’ in 2021, 27 Club returns to rock out with Adelaide audiences once again at this year’s Fringe Festival. The name ’27 Club’ is in honour of the list of music legends who have died tragically at the age of 27 years old. Its members include the amazingly talented Jim Morrison (the Doors), Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Even if you think you don’t know songs by these artists, trust me, you definitely do and they are incredible. The show, 27 Club, gives audiences the opportunity to see the songs of this legendary group of artists performed in a sensational live set by our own home-grown Aussie icons, Kevin Mitchell (Jebediah & Bob Evans), Sarah McLeod (Superjesus), Carla Lippis (Mondo Psycho), Dusty Lee Stephensen (Wanderers) and their outstanding four piece band. You know you are in for something special as soon as you hear the iconic guitar riff of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. Close your eyes and you are back in 1992 at Nirvana’s set at the Big Day Out that you wish you went to (or relive it, if you were lucky enough to be there)! You can feel Kevin Mitchell’s absolute love of this song, which was released only a few years before Kevin formed his own successful alt-rock band in 1994. Carla Lippis performs a beautiful, soulful, stripped back version of Nirvana’s Lithium and also a perfect tribute to Jimi Hendrix’s Foxy Lady. Sarah McLeod’s powerhouse homage to Janis Joplin’s Piece of My Heart impresses both in her amazing vocals and stage presence. Dusty Lee Stephensen channels Jim Morrison both physically and vocally in an electric rendition of the Doors’ Break on Through (To the Other Side). 27 Club is performed in the open-air Fantail tent at Gluttony. It is G Rated and most shows are at 6:30pm with a 60 minute duration, so you could take older kids along if you are keen to treat them to a live show of rock classics. The show notes reference occasional mild coarse language, mental health and strobe lighting warnings so that is something to bear in mind also. Otherwise, leave them at home and have an awesome kid-free night out! 27 Club is the ultimate live playlist of some of the best rock anthems of all time. Don’t miss it!