[MUSIC/Pop/Dance ~ UK]
National Gallery of Victoria Garden Restaurant. Thu 11 Nov, 2022.
The National Gallery of Victoria and their ‘Always Live’ initiative is a pretty unique and interesting program. It’s designed to offer unique experiences in the Arts and with a diverse range of artists. This is the first time I have come across the program and as I have been a long-time admirer of UK pop goddess Sophie Ellis-Bextor I jumped at the chance to attend An Intimate Evening With. The evening consisted of a fancy three course meal, an interview (Virginia Trioli doing a great job) and then a super up-close performance with Sophie belting out a bunch of dancefloor bangers while the select crowd (110 attendees) threw shapes and danced and sang their bottoms off.
I first discovered Ellis-Bextor in the late eighties when she was singing with UK indie outfit The audience. She was only 16 at the time. They only had limited success but they were among my favourite undiscovered Brit Pop gems. Songs like I Know Enough (I Don’t Get Enough) and the brilliant A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed remain strong favourites. The band were dropped by their record company after one album and Sophie turned up singing a duet with Manic Street Preachers in 1998.
In 2000 added vocals to Spiller’s Groovejet (If This Aint Love), which entered the charts at Number one and won a fistful of awards. And SE-B’s association with dance-pop was born. In 2001 she released her first solo album (Read My Lips) which contained the monster hits Take Me Home (a cover of the Cher song), Get Over You and the anthemic Murder On The Dancefloor which stayed in the UK charts for twenty three weeks. It is a bona fide all time floor filler (trust me! I am a DJ – I know these things). She continues to make excellent dance pop records like 2014’s Wanderlust and 2017’s Familia.
When lockdown hit and touring ground to a stop, Sophie started broadcasting from her kitchen, basically doing karaoke to amuse herself and it turns out millions of people all over the world who loved tuning into her glammed-up kitchen (covered in glitter and tinsel, disco lights, DJ decks, smoke machine) with Sophie lifting everybody’s spirits, chatting to camera, singing bangers while her five kids ran around, danced or looked bored. It was a wonderful thing in a gloomy world. It inspired the Songs From The Kitchen Disco album and recently a UK tour which was huge.
Returning to Australia, she was playing the Summer Camp Festivals up the East Coast (with The Veronicas, Cub Sport, Ladyhawke, Years & Years) this Intimate Evening offered a pretty special evening to a Sophie Ellis-Bextor experience like no other.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor – “Take Me Home”
Great venue, and while the original plan was that the whole evening would be out in the garden area, the torrential rain and chilly winds meant a quick rethink and everything was moved indoors. As soon as we arrived and realised how small the space was, the glamorous attendees got more excited. There was plenty of time to get to know your table mates, swap stories and enjoy the top-level meal. Virginia Trioli (herself glammed up in a shimmering ensemble) introduced our guest and they sat had had a lovely interview, covering her career, the success of Kitchen Disco (all that stuff was already in her kitchen apparently). It was charming and terrific.
A short break for mains and dessert (yummy) before Sophie took to the small circular stage (in a different glittertastic outfit and launch into Take Me Home from 2001 people are dancing at their tables. It is a similar format to her Kitchen Disco Sessions, she uses backing tracks and sings live.
Before going any further, Sophie expresses concern about the stage ‘I have spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos of people falling off stage and I don’t want tonight to be my night’. Should she come and sing on the floor or should we all cuddle up to the stage? Option B was quickly taken and everybody crowded round and after a quick choreography lesson, she leads us into her latest single Hypnotized and it’s a banger.
You always knew how to creep into my head
Always finding ways to sleep in my bed
You have always kept me hypnotized
You will never have the keys to my heart
Sophie Ellis-Bextor – “Hypnotized”
This is followed by a pounding medley of Get Over You, Modjo’s Lady Hear Me Tonight, Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) and Moloko’s Bring It Back, Groovejet was her first dip into dance music with Spiller way back in 2000 and it sparkles and shines brightly tonight. Everybody is having an absolute ball, singing and dancing, including Ms Ellis-Bextor who is close to tears a couple of times with just how much love she is receiving.
The format of Kitchen Disco was karaoke of her own songs and covers of others and one popular inclusion (it made it onto the Songs From The Kitchen Disco) was a smashing cover of the Alcazar monster floor filler Crying At The Discotheque (there is a great video of her performing in a bunch of empty venues during covid lockdown).
Madonna’s Like A Prayer was next and we love it to bits. Heaven Make Me A Dancer was a single she made with The Freemasons in 2009. Like every track tonight these are dance pop anthems. Pounding beats, super poppy hooks and the amazing SEB giving it everything. It’s a snappy set (about 45 minutes) but, as I said to some friends, it was like being at LaSing when a hundred people from the Mars Bar show up with Sophie Ellis-Bextor and everybody dances and sings until they can barely stand up any more.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor – “Crying At The Discotheque”
Naturally we end with Sophie’s biggest hit Murder On The Dancefloor from her debut solo record Read My Lips (2001), she didn’t even need a DJ to burn this goddamn house right down.
An utterly glorious evening.
4.5 stars
Ian Bell
Setlist:
Take Me Home
Hypnotized
Medley:
~ Get Over You /Lady Hear Me Tonight
~ Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)
~ Bring It Back
Crying At the Discotech
Like a Prayer
Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer) (Freemasons feat Sophie Ellis Bexter)
Murder On The Dancefloor
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Ian Bell
A top night with a pop diva
