Live Review: The Audreys, Alison Coppe

The Audreys have been a regular feature of the Adelaide Fringe Festival but were sadly absent from the 2019 program. To make up for it, the duo of Taasha Coates and Tristan Goodall put on a sneaky Thursday night gig at the Oasis Bar of the Adelaide Casino. It turned out to be an intimate show that was thoroughly enjoyable, although sometimes ramshackle - and even saw a few attendees heckled from the stage and invited to leave.

Local Alison Coppe (appearing minus her band, The Janes), was an enjoyable opening act. With songs about life as a wolf and the joys of share-house living (dropping a few hometown suburban references), her 40-minute set included a cover of Lucinda Williams’ Blue. Having apparently just finished her PhD, she was thrilled to notify us that there was a doctor in the house.

Up next was Dusty Lee from Adelaide’s Wanderers. His blues guitar and soulful voice were perfectly accompanied by a mate on keyboard. A highlight of the short-but-sweet set was the amazing cover of Bette Davis Eyes, which if the story is true, was recently performed on the Hindley Street Social Club Facebook site and heard by the song’s author, who forwarded an invitation to record in the US. Keep an eye out for this rising star.

The Audreys opened with Lonesome Valley, which featured simple ukulele, backed by electric guitar (the latter being a little too loud on this occasion). Thankfully the mix was quickly corrected, and Goodall was soon in fine form on the axe, as well as keeping us entertained with his trademark humour. During the introduction to their song about a ‘’sexy dead movie star’’ (You & Steve McQueen) he quickly referred to it being about Rodney Dangerfield.

The intimacy of the small venue meant that a group of chatty audience members drew the wrath of Coates and thankfully they elected to depart rather than make a scene. The somewhat tense mood that resulted quickly passed, although it clearly threw the duo off-kilter, seeing them mess up a few chords on the next few songs. Dusty Lee, who had contributed guitar work on Coates’ solo album from a few years prior, joined her on stage for one number and helped get things back on track.

Although tonight’s set didn’t see The Audreys at their finest, it was an enjoyable and fun-filled night with some very talented supports.