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| Lara Goodridge (Lulu) Abby Dobson (Baby) |
The Famous Spiegeltent, Canberra 5th
March 2016
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
There's something very special about relaxing in The Famous Spiegeltent on a warm
Canberra Autumn evening being serenaded by two charismatic faux French chanteuses
and four superb musicians.
An accomplished
ensemble, fronted by Abby Dobson (Baby) and Lara Goodridge (Lulu), Baby et Lulu
specialise in French salon songs. Some are classics by Piaf, Brassons or
Gainsborough, but mostly they are songs written by Dobson or Goodridge, which
come with their own back- stories.
An informal,
laid-back atmosphere was quickly established with their opening song, “On the
Banks of Old Paree”, and Dobson and Goodridge soon had the audience under their
spell, with their ear-caressing harmonies, and playful French-accented banter.
The
carefully crafted music arrangements for each song were particularly satisfying. Unexpected instrumentation continually caught
the ear, sometimes embedded in Marcello Maio’s superb piano embellishments, or
his spirit-lifting piano –accordion contributions. Then there was the harmonising of Goodridge’s violin and Matt Ottignon’s clarinet, the elegant classical guitar of Julian Curwin, and even Dobson’s
tasteful kazoo interpolations for
Goodridge’s “The Emptiness and the View”, the skilful
musicianship of the ensemble was a
constant delight .
Mark Harris added
to the pleasure by demonstrating that he was not only a fine double bass
player, but also an accomplished comedian often convulsing the audience with
his cheeky asides, while carefully avoiding distracting from the music.
Georges
Brasson’s “There is No Happy Love” received a moving performance as did Dean Redding’s
“When You Close the Door”. Piaf’s “Padam”
was thrilling, but it was the songs written by Abby Dobson and Lara Goodridge
which provided the real interest in this program.
Dobson’s jaunty “C’est La Top”, Goodridge’s “I want to Make Love” and the particularly lovely “Adieu”, inspired by the death of Dobson’s aunt, all provided convincing demonstrations of their extraordinary mastery of the genre, while providing a champagne entrée to a lovely autumn evening.
This review also appears in Australian Arts Review - www.artsreview.com.au
