27 Club farewells Gluttony after five years of Fringe
The fan-favourite show named for musicians who died at age 27 is about to wrap up its last Fringe season for a while.
Among the most well-known 27 Club alumni are Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse and The Doors’ Jim Morrison.
The show commemorating the artists who passed away in the prime of their creative life has been a returning feature of Gluttony since it became part of the Adelaide Fringe lineup in 2021.
Songs from their collective repertoire are recreated by Adelaide talent including Sarah McLeod (Superjesus), Kevin Mitchell (Jebediah, Bob Evans), Carla Lippis (Mondo Psycho), Dusty Lee Stephensen and his band, Wanderers.
Sarah says she hopes Adelaide will remember the show fondly beyond its season and follow the cast members onto their other projects. This picture: Saige Prime.
When Sarah joined the cast, she thought 27 Club would only run for one season.
“The fact that it ran again was a bonus… I never imagined we’d still be going years later,” she says.
“So I’m sad that this could be our last one but I also know that we can’t go on forever and it’s been incredibly cool to have it running this long.”
Sarah’s favourite memory from their run was the first late-night, no-seats “party show” they performed.
“Everyone was in a very ‘spritely mood’ and there was a lot of improv going on onstage,” she says.
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“It was a right ol’ laugh for us!”
Dusty, who plays in West Coast soul-style band The Wanderers, began performing in the 27 Club with his band after he was approached by the show’s producer Zac Tyler. The show has toured around Australia. This picture: Matisse Chambers/CityMag.
When CityMag last spoke to Dusty he told us a strength of the show is that it feels like “a band that’s toured together and cried together, gotten drunk together… and my band has that chemistry, that history”.
The 65-minute show kicks off with music from pioneering blues guitarist Robert Johnson, before moving onto the 60s and 70s with Jones, Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison, the 90s with Cobain and the 2000s with Winehouse.
Dusty says you should come see the show to prove wrong that one friend who says rock is dead.
“Everyone can let their hair down…we get to just kind of conduct the energy and the crowd is all part of it. We will just dance for an hour and a bit – metaphorically and physically.”
27 Club is playing until Sunday, March 23 at Gluttony’s The Fantail. After its Adelaide Fringe run, the show will tour Queensland.
Keep up with 27 Club on Instagram.