Greg Johnson – Q Theatre

Greg Johnson introduced the Cocktail Club by saying: “If you can remember anything about the original Cocktail Club – you weren’t there.” The banter, the intimate venue, special guests and yes, cocktails, make for a performance that is unforgettable.

Joining Johnson on stage was Lisa Crawley on keys, recorder and melodica, and Ted Brown on guitar and mouth organ. While Johnson was the focus of the evening, Crawley, Brown and special guest Peter Fielding took the stage to perform solo, their songs interwoven in the larger set. Each of these artists are incredibly talented. I especially enjoyed Crawley’s fantastic voice in Elizabeth, a song about a woman who isn’t famous, despite singing to anyone who’ll listen.

The purpose of the tour – a long way from where US-based Johnson is calling home these days – is road testing new songs in preparation for scheduled recording dates. As well as old favourites like Now the Sun is Out and Ball Gowns and Small Towns, which had the audience singing along, we were treated to new songs like Pretty Well Done, and Stone Cold Sober on a Saturday Night. While the performance was very polished, as you’d expect from all the hours on the road, Johnson read the tripping lyrics in No One Makes It Alone from a notebook perched hazardously on the keyboard, always threatening to slide to the floor. The song was a tribute to love and support, and was largely made up of a litany of famous names, from “Adam and Eve in the dark,” Jason and the Argonauts to the relatively contemporary “Napoleon and Josephine,” none of whom would have made it alone.

The group has been touring together for a good chunk of March, and the banter is as polished as their songs. Johnson introduced Isabelle as “a song that was probably written before Lisa was born.”

She challenged: “I was probably playing the recorder then,” and supported the melody of the song on an instrument we most often associate with childhood.

The entire group were multi-instrumentalists. Special guest Peter Fielding played his mini solo set on guitar, then joined the group later on saxaphone for Stone Cold Sober on a Saturday Night. Not to be outdone, Johnson joined him on the trumpet.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Cocktail Club without cocktails. Johnson whizzed another special guest – bananas – with ice and liqueurs, then handed the daquiri to a woman sitting near the front. She shared how she had met her fiance at one of Johnson’s gigs – and would he like to play at their wedding. “I’d love to!” said Johnson. That kind of connection – and cocktails – just isn’t possible anywhere outside of Cocktail Club.

– Rachel Rayner

Click on any image to view a gallery of photos by Isaac Newcombe.

Lose You Girl

Don’t Wait Another Day

No One Makes It Alone

Elizabeth (Lisa Crawley)

Isabelle

Love in the Air

Handles of Pearl

Funny (Peter Fielding)

Fools and Horses (Peter Fielding)

Liberty

Now the Sun is out

Tennessee Train

Maybe Your True Love (Lives In Another Town)

Save Yourself

New Car Smell

Two out of Three (Ted Brown)

Love (Ted Brown)

Ball Gowns and Small Towns

Stone Cold Sober on a Saturday Night

Pretty Well Done