On Friday the 9th of May, The Roseville Club on Pacific Highway opened its doors again to the warm welcoming of Dave Keogh and his gorgeous ticket ladies, Anna and Kelly who run the increasingly popular Eastern Lounge. This evening was the 40th anniversary of the “Eastern Lounge” and promised to be a special evening.
The event attracted a crowd in its hundreds to the now, almost-too-small venue. Two cover groups were the night’s acts, and as usual, the performers and management of the event made it so good. The acts for the evening were Rainee Lyleson, covering Joni Mitchell, and Sam Joole and the Light My Fire band, covering The Doors. Both performances were spectacular in their own, unique ways.
Rainee Lyleson is an Australian singer-songwriter who acts out the part of Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, singing flawlessly and powerfully whilst adding her own unique twist to the role. The night’s performance for her was a collection of Joni’s more famous works, interspersed with dialogue Rainee put together, depicting the life of the talented Ms. Mitchell.
The fractured stylisation of performance took the audience on an emotional journey, especially as from an early stage, as Dave Keogh suggested in his post-show announcement; Rainee “Commanded the room”. The very delicate and stunningly pretty Rainee possessed a way of surprising the audience with such a supremely powerful voice.
“Spine-tinglingly beautiful” was how Keogh depicted it, in his afterword of the performance, articulating the performance perfectly. Rainee finished her performance, humorously encoring as her Aussie-self, adding further amazement to her performance as her enactment of “Raven” from her EP was just as strong yet diversely different to the role of Joni.
Sam Joole and the Light My Fire band followed Rainee, complimenting her act as it contrasted starkly. Dissected into two parts, The Doors were reincarnated, much to the crowds’ satisfaction as the dance-floor was almost immediately filled. The band worked cohesively, making a seamless rendition of the great 60s psychedelic group.
A flawless opening to “Riders on the storm” forced the crowd up to the floor where some very questionable dance moves were unleashed by the audience for over 2 hours. It was amazing to witness the stamina of some, as the general demographic of the lounge was again exceeding the 50s age-bracket.
Immensely powerful vocal work along with lead guitar solos throughout, and even a drum-solo, kept the crowd on their feet for the bulk of the time they were performing. A classically grunge-feel was the product of instrumental perfection as well as Sam Joole’s stage presence; making-love to a microphone which has most-likely been sanitized repeatedly since his performance.
All in all, the lounge offered another excellent experience, the great performances working well with the dedication and seamless coordination of Dave Keogh and his team.
