Live Review: Odette Mercy & Her Soul Atomics Heartbreak Dance

Fringe Festival welcomed Odette Mercy & Her Soul Atomics Heartbreak Dance to make use of the unconventional, limitless format the festival offers. Opening with a restrained number with just her fragile voice and a keyboard, the leading lady made the point very clear early – tonight was about soul. As her band gracefully and subtly joined Odette throughout the opening song, those who managed to find the entrance to the venue were taken back to the roots of soul music – l-o-v-e love!

Having developed the show to explore one emotion and one emotion alone, the group shared stories, songs and tributes to hearts won, lost and those ripped out of your chest and stomped on the ground. More than just a musical performance, the atypical format did take the crowd a little while to come to terms with, but as the show progressed so too did the audience involvement.

Nothing was lost on the bleachers, as several locally admired singers (including Lucy Peach and Timothy Nelson) bled their hearts out, and local comedienne Andrea Gibbs read hilarious extracts from her diary, sharing her explicit, if slightly disturbing confessions as a 14-year-old. The collective successfully coerced plenty of crowd contributions including back-up singing, fist pumping to a soul cover of You Give Love A Bad Name, and gestures of chocolate precipitation raining down on us all. But where the show really succeeded was in traversing a particularly touchy topic in a relatable, candid way that never became too personal, but gently asked its audience to dig down deep to where your aorta meets your coronary artery, and feel love; hopefully leaving the tent with a little bit extra of that powerful emotion.