Sarah McLeod and Kevin Mitchell channel the true spirit of rock & roll in '27 Club', a live rockumentary featuring the timeless music of Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain.
Winner of the 'Best Music Award' at 2021 Adelaide Fringe, '27 Club' stars Sarah and Kevin sharing the songs and stories of these revered rock legends, alongside Carla Lippis, Dusty Lee Stephensen, Cam Blockland and Wanderers.Now in its third year, '27 Club' has grown from a theatrical tribute into a thriving tradition that is keeping alive the music and mythos of this infamous collective of the gone-too-soon.
"Not only does it reignite our passion for these songs, which I think is important, it also introduces a new generation to artists that they maybe have only heard their legacy in the history books but don't know their tunes," Sarah says.
"To hear those tunes played by contemporary artists in a live environment with the stories behind it as well, because we tell the story of each artist's life, it puts it all in perspective.
"It brings it all back to life again; it makes it real and it's a really little rock & roll history lesson. An hour and a half of hitting the music books for anyone who wants to know where good music came from."
The phenomenon of the 27 Club maintains an enduring presence in rock & roll folklore, despite the refutation of statistical analysis. Nevertheless, its legend persists, as does that of its membership.
Of all the artists covered in '27 Club', Sarah says she has found the deepest connection with Janis Joplin. "Just as far as vocally, Janis Joplin for sure," she says, "and it's funny because I wasn't a Janis Joplin fan. I knew of her, and I was like: 'Oh yeah, cool. She's got a husky voice, I've got a husky voice, I guess I connect with her.'
"I always thought she was always a bit too rough and bluesy for my style but the more I got to know about her life and her other songs and what she went through, her struggles and wins, I started really connecting with her."
Just as there are no rules in rock & roll, Sarah says once she and the cast have found their feet with the show, the producers had little choice but to sit back and revel in the chaos their performers unleashed.
"Each year it gets bigger and better," she says. "The first year we were feeling it out a little bit, the second year we had more interesting scripts and big screens behind us.
"But also, the first year we were very much on-script doing as we were told because it's theatre not rock & roll, but then last year we all went: 'You know what, this is not theatre, this is rock & roll,' and we all started doing it our own way."
As an artist, Sarah appreciates the trust put in the cast by producers to widen the parameters of their performances, labelling it a bold move that has paid off.
"The script went out the window, everyone's ad-libbing, it's like a rock gig," Sarah says. "We all became a bit rebellious about it.
"As I kept saying to the cast, we need to bring the danger. We can't just be on-script doing it neat as a theatre show, not with these artists; it's got to be dangerous and living on the edge. The show becomes a bit of a loosely controlled jam."
'27 Club' runs at Gluttony’s The Fantail at Adelaide Fringe 17 February until 5 March as well as Costa Hall (Geelong) 23 March, Castlemaine State Festival @ The Capital 24 March, Princess Theatre (Brisbane) 31 March and HOTA (Gold Coast) 1 April.
