Lady Sings it Better

They had me at ‘Gimme Head’. Five girls, harmonies and The Radiators, how could I not love it?

Lady Sings it Better is a five singer, three band member cabaret group who venture into the world of male music and take cock rock and power ballads to a whole new level. Their latest performance is playing as part of the Blackcat Lounge season of queer cabaret at Sidetrack in Marrickville. Queer, Bi, Straight or Other – it’s an absolute delight of a night out.

The voices have just the right blend and timbre to them – all very different but in combination, perfect. The arrangements are tight and can turn a run of the mill rock song into a full tilt showstopper. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance with highlights (apart from the aforementioned Radiators ditty) being – ‘Jesse’s Girl, and Closer (I will admit I had been silently chanting ‘please, please, some Nine Inch Nails), each singer carries the stage well, the mix of full throttle rock and sit down torch songs is just right and the self confessed ‘awkward choreography’ is fun and funky enough to project just the right amount of rock and/or roll.

The only perhaps I have is the venues (or lack of) for this kind of show here in Sydney. I got only just a sense of the character and personalities of those on a stage that was, perhaps, too theatrical for cabaret yet wouldn’t fit into a live music venue either. Each time I see cabaret in Sydney I come away feeling the same way but this show in particular as I can see just how magnificent this show would be in a real cabaret venue as seen in New York. The music and performances are so ballsy (pardon the pun) that I can see how it would really hit it strides in a bigger place. The girls are heading to Edinburgh this year and it will be interesting to see what happens when they can showcase themselves to the bigger, wider world.

Lady Sings it Better are:

Maeve Marsden
Chandra Franken
Belinda Crawford
Libby Wood
Anna Martin