Risky Mix of Religion
Review of Meet Me in the Middle of the Air
As a premiere performance and opening concert for the 2006 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, this was a disappointing show, especially when it featured two well-known performers in Australian music.
While it's true that just about anything goes in cabaret, a program of 14 religious songs seems more suited to an evangelical meeting. Traditionally cabaret has always been secular. What saved the production from the Sunday school banality of many of the lyrics was Paul Grabowsky's arrangement and the playing of the 10-piece Australian Art Orchestra. Including some leading jazz musicians, the AAO lifted these songs enormously, injecting a swinging feel and some smart, although pre-written, solos.
In addition, there were five males and two female backing vocalists supporting the singing of Paul Kelly and Vika and Linda Bull: singly, or the two sisters together, or all three in some songs.
These were all Kelly originals, tuneful melodies, depleted by lyrics of repetitive religious cliche. At the beginning, Kelly announced the concert would be centred around the Bible. It certainly was: Glory Be to God, God Told Me So, God's Hotel and Surely God was a Lover are examples of the titles that followed.
Presenting a religious theme was always going to be risky because many concert goes would be uncomfortable with 90 minutes of unexpected Christian fundamentalist songs, irrespective of musical quality, in a cabaret festival.
One of the most interesting pieces, musically, was Gathering Storm. It was written in collaboration with pianist Jex Saarelaht and again the overriding impression was the brilliance of Grabowsky's soul-fired arrangement. Rather than resort to the obvious and score all these pieces in a familiar southern Gospel style, Grabowsky constructed a variety of approaches. Meet Me in the Middle of the Air used a full-on Dixieland backing and other numbers explored Latino rhythms, or brought violin and cello to the fore in a semi-classical format.
This could have been an outstanding production with so much talent assembled on stage, but it was undermined by its unsuitable theme. Grabowsky, moving between conducting from the piano and taking up percussion instruments, had the AAO performing brilliantly. With any lesser group this event would have been not dissimilar to a Hillsong gathering, or a concert of Christian rock.
- The Australian (John McBeath), 12 June 2006
Reviews of Meet Me in the Middle of the Air
