Ronnie Taheny Takes Her Last Annual Swim At The Gov – Live Music Review

Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, Sat 3 Feb. The accomplished performer, mentor and founder of Arty Records, Ronnie Taheny, took to the stage at The Gov for her 25th anniversary of annual Gov gigs. It was an event filled with an air of prestige and class festooned with tables and wine and music fit for the singer-songwriter enthusiast. Supporting Taheny was one of Arty Records’ new singer/songwriters Zac Eden, wielding a vocal mixture of Johnny Cash and Jeff Buckley. Zac performed a solo acoustic set of six songs from his new EP Chasing The Wind which brought a tear to people’s eyes. Following the interval, Taheny performed two sets, first solo and the second with a line up of the mighty Jarrad Payne, the smooth groovin’ Flik Freeman and internationally acclaimed Adelaide artist Lainie Jamieson; comprised of tunes spanning over albums: Valentine’s Prey, Briefcase, Dodgy Vita, Stage Fright, Happathy, Decalogue, Renaissance Point and START the captive audience enjoyed a ‘greatest hits’ portraiture of her entire career. The band was indeed masterful; it was in every way (to quote Taheny in a recent interview with The Clothesline) the “well oiled machine” she said it was. Midway through the performance Taheny invited a group of family and friends to join her up on stage for a song by way of saying ‘thanks for the support over the years’ – a very inclusive and thoughtful way to pay tribute to her loved ones, although I suspect some of them may have been a little shy – way to freak out your relatives, Ronnie! Taheny’s last hoorah went swimmingly as you can imagine. Relaxed yet energetic, earnest yet facetious; it was a performance everybody will remember. Have a happy retirement, Ronnie! Until next time! 4.5 Stars Bián Hickman Centre image courtesy of Catherine Blanch