Rockwiz – Palais Theatre

Translating a television show, albeit a show that has elements of a rock n’ roll gig into a touring show is quite a challenge, but the Rockwiz crew pull it off reasonably well.

Playing in the shows spiritual home of StKilda, at the end of the tour was always going to be cause for some sort of celebration and the show did have the mood of a victory lap as the team reached the end of a long tour.

The first half of the show is a bit of a drag as Brian Nankervis auditions twenty-four  contestants to make up the four players that take part in the show. It’s a slow process and although there’s a few good moments and one-liners from both Nankervis and a couple of the contestants, the audience is well and truly ready for the “real show” to begin after interval. Ironically this audition process would have probably worked better in some of the smaller towns on the tour when a few of the ‘local personalities’ may have been on display in front of a smaller and more raucous audience.

The show itself runs pretty much as you would see it on SBS on Saturday nights. Julia Zemiro is perfect in her role – in fact I cant imagine a performer and a role being better suited to each other. I’m yet to see her rise to similar heights in any other television or radio gig as she does with this one, and the jury is still out whether she truly is a one-trick show pony but there’s no denying her excellence as the Rockwiz ringmaster.

But this website isn’t really about reviewing host roles – and its certainly not about quiz shows, even quiz shows for rock nerds. Fortunately there is some sensational music on display here as well.

There was a couple of musical moments that were just jaw-dropping, as is often the case with Rockwiz. Claire Bowditch and Adalita duet on Because The Night and despite Bowditch and the correct lyrics becoming somewhat disconnected it’s a great performance. Seeing and hearing Adalita perform this song drove home the fact that she is one of Australia’s most arresting female performers. One day she’s going to find the right songs, the right band and the right context and her star will rise. It hasn’t happened yet, not on a large scale, , but despite her being a veteran of the indie scene I suspect that she’s only just getting started as a musical force. Lets hope that the stars fall into alignment soon because her raw power and presence is a storm waiting to happen.

The other stand out performance was Vika Bull and Steve Kilbey on the Bowie/Queen song Under Pressure.  Vika was a bold vocal presence, no surprise there, but Kilbey was the revelation – giving an passionate and  raucous reading of his parts. If someone had told me twenty years ago that Steve Kilbey would shine in a completely “unironic” performance of a cover version in the middle of a touring quiz show I would have laughed, but that’s exactly what he did.

The other interesting performer was Ella Hooper, formerly of Killing Heidi and more recently of The Verses. She’s become a very assured performer and it sounds like she’s hit upon a great direction with a very Lone Justice/Maria McKee style rock/country hybrid. I’ll be interested to see where that takes her.

Of course none of these delicious musical moments would be possible without the input of the Rockwiz Orchestra and Messrs Naylor, Luscombe, Ferrie and Black need large dollops of kudos cast in their direction.

One of the best things about Rockwiz is its ability to highlight the talents of people we may not be exposed to without the show (hello Holiday Sidewinder) and while none of the artists on display tonight were exactly newcomers the musical menu was certainly a tasty one.