Celebrating the legends who will forever be 27, and shining a light on the legacy they left behind, 27 Club is the electrifying live rockumentary currently touring the nation, featuring treasured music and stories from the famed rock artists gone too soon.
REWIRE is Geelong Arts Centre’s home of bold, curious, and creative performance experiences. If you’re after something a little different or just to have fun, you’ve come to the right place.
With their 2023 season underway, Geelong Arts Centre is introducing a new program of new theatre, vibrant comedy and emerging cabaret.
This year, Geelong Arts Centre is starting to test the boundaries with unique live arts experiences, from amped rock spectaculars to interactive pub performances, digital exposés and raw storytelling, REWIRE has got you covered.
WHAT IS REWIRE?
REWIRE is here to enable arts lovers to take steps towards their wilder side with different and daring creative opportunities. From live music and immersive theatre experiences to explorative escapades at the local pub.
Championing voices that rise from outside the norm and sometimes within, REWIRE seeks to capture the excitement and innovation of modern theatre ethos with relevant and exciting new works.
Utilising digital technology, contemporary spaces and unique cross-cultural voices, REWIRE opens the door to a new breadth of opportunities to become immersed within Geelong’s creative community.
“REWIRE is a fresh new pillar of Geelong Arts Centre’s programming, highlighting our desire to blur artform boundaries, explore new perspectives and be part of a community that embraces new diversity in all forms,” says Joel McGuinness, Geelong Arts Centre CEO and Creative Director.
“We are proud to deliver an exciting new program stream that responds to our loyal and growing audiences.”
The new program will be held across multiple venues including the iconic Costa Hall, local beer haven Little Creatures, and, later in 2023, new performance spaces due to open as part of Geelong Arts Centre’s Little Malop Street Redevelopment.
THE LINE UP:
27 Club | March 23
On 23 March, the first cab off the proverbial REWIRE rank is 27 Club, the electrifying live rockumentary featuring treasured music and stories from the likes of Joplin, Winehouse, Cobain, Morrison, and Hendrix, the legends who will forever be 27, and celebrating the legacy they left behind.
Now in its third year, Australian rock icons Sarah McLeod (The Superjesus) and Kevin Mitchell (Jebediah, Bob Evans) with Carla Lippis (Mondo Psycho), Dusty Lee Stephenson, Cam Blokland and Wanderers have reunited to once again salute the fated members of the 27 Club.
“We did the first season at Adelaide Fringe and it just really came alive,” explains Australia’s Queen of rock ‘n roll Sarah McLeod.
“There was the script and then there was us, and we as a group we’re not really accustomed to following rules or scripts, so the script became like rough guidelines and then everybody just started putting themselves into it and this thing just sort of developed into its own moving beast and it just got really unpredictable and dangerous and fun.”
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As the lead singer/guitarist and primary songwriter for 3x ARIA Award-winning rock band The Superjesus, 27 Club sees McLeod, the completely down-to-earth and passionate rockstar, explore her musicianship in new and exciting ways as she takes on the likes of Joplin and Winehouse in a theatre-like setting.
“It’s great because you’ve got great performers with you, so everybody’s doing harmonies together and I’m really not used to collaborating like that,” McLeod says.
“I either play by myself or I’m in the Superjesus where I’m doing all the lead singing, but now I’m in a position where a lot of time I’m not playing the guitar and I’m standing there and I’ve got three really strong singers around me doing three-part harmonies. It’s really cool and I really enjoy it, like from a vocal point of view, it’s challenging but it’s also really rewarding.”
Off the back of receiving Adelaide Fringe Festival’s ‘Best Music Award’ in 2021 and following another run at Fringe this year, the infamous club is hitting the road to bring their tribute to the prestigious but tragic club of music legends to Geelong.
“It’s pretty amazing that it’s touring, it’s just working really well,” McLeod says.
“I think it’s got legs because we change it up every year because there are so many songs we can choose from. Each year we go into the rehearsal room for a week prior and it gets switched up and we change all sorts of things.
“This year we added a few songs and then cut some songs down and made four songs into one song, so everybody gets up and sings a bit and then jumps on harmonies. With Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz’, I used to start that on piano and then do the rest of the song with the band. But now we’re doing it all a cappella with everyone just banging things and the crowd clapping to the beat, and on the last chorus, all the singers come in and do the whole thing in four part harmonies, it’s really cool.”
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Breathing life back into the music of the fated superstars with re-imaginings of classics, true to the originals and creative medleys, the show not only delivers music’s greatest setlist but also delivers a masterclass in rock ’n’ roll, keeping alive the music, mythos and enduring cultural impact of this infamous collective of the gone-too-soon.
“It’s just all about having a good time but it’s also a really good little history lesson in good old-fashioned rock and roll. So, you know, people our age and older love it because it rekindles their youth, but also people are bringing their kids and giving them a hard and fast music lesson, which is great.”
With couches and a coffee table on stage and a group of musicians who are all masters in their own right, the show – which has received a plethora of five-and-four-and-a-half-star reviews – is more than a concert, it’s a celebration of some of the greatest artists of all time.
Declared by Glam Adelaide (2022) as “Electrifying and magnetic”, this must-see show will have you praying to the rock gods.
Purchase tickets to the show here.
I Liked It, BUT… | May 11-13
Want to take your typical pub trivia night to the next level? From 11-13 May, I Liked It, BUT… heads to Little Creatures for pub trivia with a twist in this silly, irreverent and interactive experience to be remembered, birthed from the mind of creator, choreographer and performer, Joel Bray. I Liked It, BUT…. goes where few “experimental contemporary immersive performance” works dare to tread… out of the theatre and into the bar to see what passes the “pub test”. Expect very silly stories about very serious people, served with tongue firmly in cheek as everyone tries to work out how dance even gets made, and why we should care.
RECKŌNING | July 28-29
A powerful celebration of Indigenous culture through storytelling, original songs, and dance hitting the stage 28-29 July. This powerful piece is a recognition of past injustices, a journey through understanding, and a celebration of Indigenous cultures’ survival, creativity and strength is a performance that will both educate and challenge your perceptions.
Rich Kids: A History Of Shopping Malls In Tehran | August 3-5
Dive into an otherworldly interactive, digital experience with Rich Kids: A History Of Shopping Malls In Tehran from 3-5 August. It explores entitlement, consumption and the global gap between rich and poor – partly onscreen, and partly in your hand on your mobile, it’s an immersive experience you will be talking about for days.
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Staging works that challenge, thrill and delight all at once; REWIRE offers the perfect opportunity to try something new.
There’s still plenty of time to make the most of Geelong Art Centre’s flexible subscription packages. Select your favourites, mix and match across multiple programs and save up to 10% via the website, by phoning the Box Office on 1300 251 200 between 9:00am and 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.
With many exciting announcements just around the corner for 2023, sign up to the Geelong Arts Centre fortnightly e-newsletter to ensure you never miss a beat.
Tickets and subscription packages can be found here.
