The solo acoustic show can be a lonely place. With the spotlight trained on you and no band members offering support, the audience hangs on your every movement, your breath, your whim.
This would be nerve wracking enough in a suburban café or country pub, but in the cavernous Enmore Theatre the stakes are raised. It is a moment where you can sink or soar; last night two very different performers took the stage and soared, with grace, power, and dynamic energy.
The small town of Margate in Tasmania’s south was where Leena began the journey which has taken her to Perth, Melbourne, around the globe and last night to the stage the Enmore Theatre in Sydney. A diminutive figure, she breezed onto stage, greeted the crowd and then commenced a breathy performance of depth, emotion and quality. Not content to play the role of the supporting act entrée, she enraptured the crowd with her finesse on the guitar and piano, and her powerful vocals which belie her small frame. She grasped the crowd in her small hands and took them on a short but unforgettable journey, which by the end the raucous applause could barely do justice.
Ed (or Eddie as he now likes to be known) Kowalczyk, is a spiritual man who brings an infectious happiness and warmth to all his performances. As the front man for the post grunge rock group LIVE, Eddie was responsible for some of the most popular and iconic songs of the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Small in stature, he possesses a powerful stage presence and booming vocals that filled the Enmore with a rich sound. He regularly dug into his overflowing bag of hits, reimagining some of them with an eastern twist, others belted out with his trademark intensity, volume, and energy. This was not a performance for the timid; this was raw rock on an acoustic leash. After the second encore the crowd stood as one, a wave of applause echoed throughout and it was over. Eddie promised to return, a promise that many hope he will keep. If ever there was an excuse to venture out on a school night, an audience with Eddie is one of the best.
Once the crowd dispersed the Enmore was once again silent; if only the patterned art deco walls could talk, what wondrous tales they would tell.
Listen to Leena at:
http://www.leena.com.au/
http://www.myspace.com/leenamusic
Find Eddie at:
www.eddieklive.com/
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