When it comes to Australian rock ‘n’ roll divas there aren’t many who can hold a candle to Sarah McLeod. The former Superjesus front woman has cemented her spot on the Australian musical circuit and on this particular evening, Sarah was playing a very exclusive and intimate acoustic show in her hometown of Adelaide, where she received a very warm welcome home.
What was immediately noticeable about the evening’s festivities was that the Grace Emily Hotel was full and almost certainly sold out – it is not often that this venue hosts a capacity crowd. The crowd was predominantly female with the exception of perhaps ten or so males, and the atmosphere in the venue was very relaxed with punters sitting by the stage and socialising amongst themselves.
The evening’s opening band is Adelaide-based, The Salvadors, who have themselves received much publicity and attention over the last few years. The group took the stage and were warmly greeted by the appreciative crowd. The group played through an acoustic set of their songs, which fitted in perfectly with both the crowd and the atmosphere. The combination of keys, a beautifully strummed guitar and Tom Opie’s melancholy vocals managed to create a very intimate setting which would follow for the rest of the evening.
The night progressed quite quickly and the crowd of sixty or so gathered by the stage. Sarah McLeod was welcomed very warmly by the crowd as she made her way down the stairs with a bottle of wine in hand, and accompanied by K.J, the bass player of McLeod’s side project, Screaming Bikinis.
McLeod instantly entertained the crowd with her charisma and charm, and made sure everyone was able to see in the small venue by insisting the first few rows sit down, creating a very subtly intimate atmosphere amongst the crowd. After ensuring the audience was well settled, McLeod gave a shout out to her mother, which would happen several times throughout the night, almost shining a bigger spotlight on her mother than on herself.
After some well received banter with the crowd, McLeod started the show with ‘Private School Kid’. The set continued with numerous tracks from McLeod’s solo work and as well as a few tracks from her work with the Screaming Bikinis. McLeod chatted to the crowd between the songs, often telling a story or two, and also made it very evident that she was pleased to be back in her hometown.
After an hour or so, McLeod declared she had a very special surprise for the crowd. Stuart Rudd, the former bass player of Superjesus, joined McLeod onstage, and she told the crowd they were going to get a very exclusive set of Superjesus songs.
The set with Stuart Rudd was opened with ‘Shut My Eyes’ from Sumo and the very dynamic duo continued to play through a very strong set of Superjesus songs including crowd favourites, ‘Gravity’ and ‘Secret Agent Man’. It was interesting to see how honest McLeod was, often saying how the two had not played Superjesus songs in over ten years and even admitting when she was playing in the wrong tuning. McLeod concluded the Superjesus set list by playing ‘Second Sun’; the set was no doubt a rarity and seemed to leave many fans speechless.
As if the set list of Superjesus songs wasn’t enough to win everyone over, McLeod went on to finish the show by doing an encore of covers and telling the audience she would be waiting by the door to bid them farewell as they left. McLeod concluded by covering Jay Z’s ‘Empire State of Mind’; in itself, a cover that few would have expected.
The evening’s show was a spectacular treat for punters and a show that will no doubt be hard to top for McLeod. Even after over a decade in the industry, McLeod continues to show why she is such a prominent figure in the music world.
– Matt Mercieca
