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THE ROLLING STONES REVUE
@ Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide
14th September, 2024
(Live Review)

Review by Julie Reid

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The “Rolling Stones Revue” starring Adalita (Magic Dirt), Sarah McLeod (The Superjesus), Tex Perkins (The Cruel Sea) and Steve Kilbey (The Church) brought a full blown Rock n Roll extravaganza to the stage last night in Her Majesty’s Theatre Adelaide. The mostly middle-aged and above crowd was full of anticipation for the charismatic talented lineup just as much as the rock n roll songs from the Stones that they were bringing to the stage.

Set one is the classic Sticky Fingers album played in its entirety and in its original running order. In these days when people just dont seem to listen to an entire album anymore it does leave you in awe of how many genius songs both bluesy, ballads and rock are on this album!

Sarah Mcleod opens proceedings with Brown Sugar. She is full of energy, bounding around the stage twisting and girating dressed in a cowboy hat and Sun Records t-shirt. The band sound excellent.  As is the format with these review shows the vocals are shared out and Tex takes track two, Sway. Jak Housden’s lead guitar break was awesome.  

Track 3, Wild Horses sees Adalita joined by Tex Perkins. They harmonise in a beautiful way with Adalita’s voice perfectly offsetting Tex’s baritone. The camaraderie and friendship between these two Aussie icons is evident! “not a bad song that” Tex quips as he leaves the stage “next ones pretty good too comes the reply”. They weren’t wrong. The saxophone and and guitar duelling was amazing. Can you Hear Me Knocking brings Sarah Mcleod back up on stage, her gravelly voice adding some extra grunge to this bluesy ballad. Sarah is full of boundless energy, shaking her maracas on her knees in front of Jak. Later as Tex comes on stage to sing he quips “oh Sarah I thought you were going to have a terrible Maracca accident!”.

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Side two’s highlightlights included Steve Kilbey’s delivery of Sister Morphine, a song about drug addiction. He really did the song justice; his voice sounding anguished and desperate crying out to his dear sister Morphine and cousin Cocaine to deliver him just this one more time. Another was Adalita singing Dead Flowers. This bluesy, grungey ballad of love left behind, was perfectly suited to Adalita’s voice and delivery sounds melancholy. Moonlight Mile closes the set Tex performing a little pirouette as he leaves the stage.

After a short interval they are back with a greatest hits package. It opens with Start Me Up from Sarah McLeod. Immediately the crowd seems to liven up and a nearby patron, who lost in the moment starts dancing with gusto, is told promptly to sit down by the theatre usherette as he was dancing in the aisle. That’s rock n roll, cmon let loose?

Tex lunges and lurches in his charismatic, sexy manner through Honky Tonk Woman. He gives the song the lustiness that it requires and the audience appreciates this with someone from the back calling out “Go Tex”. Adalita’s Tumbling Dice is a really great version, it really does suit her voice and is a real favourite with the crowd.

Steve Kilbey comes on next with 2000 Light Years From Home. To be honest, the momentum had been building and this one seems to fall a little flat. The crowd are clearly unfamiliar with it and with no introduction in the Greatest Hits set this song seems to have no place in the show.

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Adalita is back, adding a little pizazz to the show in her sparkly jacket and delivering a gutsy rendition of Get Off Of My Cloud. This is followed by Tex singing a song highly suited to Australia’s dark broody, Man In Black, Paint it Black.

Steve Kilbey sings Lets Spend the Night Together next up and the crowd are loving all the familiar big hits over the decades we have enjoyed the legendary Stones. Tex Perkins gives a fantastic rendition of Miss You pulling faces strutting around the stage, he is a ham and a diva all in one, but he’s looking at the lyrics on his sheet…. What’s the matter wit you Boiii???

Sarah McLeod smashes Beast Of Burden out of the park! Wow she owned this song, giving us a gritty, gravelly, grungy Sarah’s version of the song. I can’t think of a song more suited to her voice and delivery style. Adalita returns with Its Only Rock n Roll But I Like It. Such a classic rock anthem and delivered by Australia’s queen of garage rock …perfect!

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Sympathy For The Devil. The stage goes dark, the band plays this classic dark rock song to perfection. Tex’s baritone and his stage craft style perfectly suit this song. Next up Jumpin Jack Flash is a crowd pleaser, how can it not be?

Another of the highlights in closing is Gimme Shelter. Tex, Steve, Adalita and Sarah on stage together, harmonising and delivering a soulful rendition of this song. It really is the highlight of the show. The clips of Altamont Festival and the Vietnam War that are playing in the background give the song a time and a tragic place in rock n roll history.

In summary, this show delivered to a sit down audience in a theatre is up against the spontaneity a rock n roll show of the legendary Stones best hits requires. The songs just make you want to dance, sing and holler and having distance of the theatre setting and the limitation of seating; it loses some momentum along the way. Perhaps a show like this could do with a little story telling in between with some rock and song trivia?. Also a bit of costume and drama may have lifted this style of delivery up a little to a seated audience.

Overall a great show delivered with gusto. 7 out of 10.

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AMNPLIFY – DB