Wrong Room Cools Torch Song Fire
The Age
Tuesday October 17, 2006
MUSIC REVIEW: CAMILLE Hamer Hall, October 15. Further performances at the Famous Spiegeltent on October 30, and November 2-4
IRISH chanteuse Camille O'Sullivan made a huge impact as part of last year's festival hit La Clique. She's back in Melbourne for more performances in the Spiegeltent, and kicked off her tour with a solo gig at Hamer Hall.O'Sullivan's song list is strong on torch songs from Jacques Brel and Nick Cave, which she sings in her trademark "no prisoners" style. A highlight was her performance of Brel's Next, as she seemed to embody the disillusionment of both the army prostitute and the naive soldier loosing his virginity. Equally successful was her expression of the sly humour in Kirsty MacColl's In these shoes, and Cave's God is in the House. With equal measure O'Sullivan combines the sharp wit of a Sally Bowles with the dry irony of Edith Piaf, then swills it all down with the raw power of a Janis Joplin at full throttle. This works a treat in a cabaret venue, and even in the expanse of Hamer Hall - although O'Sullivan seemed occasionally lost in the venue, and her drinking on stage really belongs in a club atmosphere where the audience can drink along with her. In this respect she is in a line of acts that have been shoe-horned into inappropriate venues in the Arts Centre complex this festival.
© 2006 The Age