Ali McGregor’s Midnight Lullabies (FringeTIX)
Ali McGregor & Ben Hendry @ Bosco Theatre
9:30pm, Thu 6 Mar 2008
After the Persian Garden Poets ran long, it was a panicked mobilisation from the Festival Centre to the Garden. Of course, I completely forgot that this was Midnight Lullabies‘ opening night, and so the Bosco staff were labouring under their first changeover – and, as a result, the show started well late.
And, to be honest, there’s nothing much to report. As with last year’s show, Ali and Ben provide a show of (mostly) covers with odd tempos and instrumentation. There’s a few new songs – Sweet Child O’ Mine is a blinder, slowed down and sweetly sung by Ali. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head is somewhat less successful, but still good curiosity value, and You Shook Me All Night Long had the crowd on the edge of their seats, awaiting the next delicious line or vocal flourish – how does she hit those high notes?
Apart from that, though, the only difference to last year’s show was a layer of polish (which makes everything that much nicer), and Ali’s cleavage. Yummy. But cleavage or not, it’s still an amazing show – beautiful songs sung by a beautiful girl with beautiful percussion… and a new CD’s available after the show, too. What’s not to love?