One of the coolest parts of the Sydney Festival this year has been seeing the transformation of Sydney Town Hall – for the LIVE video installation as well as the Trocadero Dance Palace, an ode to the famed Sydney Trocadero, a venue popular in the 1940s and 50s.
In the late hours of the evening, Sydney Festival gave the “Troc”, as it was affectionately called, a “Party Night”, with Orkestra Del Sol playing for two nights, and LA-based big band Royal Crown Revue playing for another two. I headed along to the latter and got to enjoy some pretty damn wonderful swing music, while I watched those around me really get their dance on. I mean, there were some impressive dancers in that crowd; all dolled up and ready to bring it like it was 1955!
The venue looked terrific – you can read all about the “Dance Palace” events here – and served the band beautifully.
For those that don’t know Royal Crown Revue, you probably do without realising it. The early 90s were full of Royal Crown Revue hits, helped in part by the success of “Hey Pachuco” in the film The Mask. Here’s a clip to jog your memory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqjq2s_bHPA
Ah, yes…good times, no?
The band played a two hour show, broken into two halves – with the song you just heard closing up the first half. The set opened with a cover of “Miserlou” (you know, the classic surfer jam as sampled in “Pump It” by the Black Eyed Peas and surely used in every Quentin Tarantino film). This definitely got the crowd on their feet – but it was the swing and the rockabilly music that got the crowd dancing. There was plenty of 50s shuffle action, with tracks like “Zip Gun Bop” and covers of songs like “Mack The Knife” and “Viva Las Vegas”, which ended the set.
This is a band full of entertainers – often running into the crowd or playing trumpet fro, the venue’s second level, always making sure we were on our feet, dancing to every beat. And in that regard, the band never let us down, and the crowd never let them down. A truly enjoyable evening at yet another unique Sydney Festival event.
