Sophisticated Lover: Donny Benét
Treat yourself — that’s the motto of Sydney’s Donny Benét. This year’s Sydney Festival has done just that and has suggested that we all do the same by getting down to the Spiegeltent to kick-start our weekends this January.
Donny Benét is one of the more intriguing artists to emerge out of Sydney in the past few years. The self-proclaimed poster boy of Italo-Funk-Disco, Donny Benét is a character we love to love.
As if witnessing Benét in the flesh wasn’t special enough, for the first time, Benét has unveiled The Donny Benét Show Band.
In this new show realised by Benét, the band work their way through Benét’s catalogue of hits. Matt Keegan on tenor saxophone breathes new life in 2011’s anthem for the lady’s man, “Sophisticated Lover”. His fleeting sax solos would challenge a baby’s bottom in smoothness. Time and again, Keegan delivers such smoothness in his playing. Thoughtfully rhythmic at times, his solo in “Girls of Japan” builds over the classic disco beat and soars towards the song’s climax.
“She’s Too Much” ends with an epic drum solo delivered by the masterful James Waples, painted over a backdrop of lethal stabs provided by the band.
The band carries on to the ultimate driving song, music to cruise to: you’d be astounded to learn that “Don’t Leave Me Stranded” is in fact NOT from the soundtrack of some 80s B grade film — during the scene where the Marty McFly look-a-like protagonist is running through the city in the pouring rain, on a mission to prevent his lover from leaving him. A song with such a powerfully driving groove would not be complete without an epic guitar solo; Ben Hauptmann delivers a blistering solo that would rival any guitar hero.
Harry Sutherland on the keys holds the band together. His futuristic synths sounds would make Giorgio Moroder shed a proud tear.
Then there’s the man himself. Donny Benét with his show band behind him gets to play the instrument he plays best — bass. Usually on stage solo, armed with a drum machine, electric guitar and Moog synthesiser, Benét is finally allowed to show off his real talent as one of the funkiest bass players in the land.
The first set ends with “Gimme Your Heat”. Here, Benét demonstrates his funky slap bass technique on a song that builds to a glorious climax. Growing up, I was a great fan of The Who, but here Benét performs the Italo-Funk-Disco equivalent to The Who’s “Listening To You” — the larger-than-life end to their shows in the Tommy era.
Sydney’s “Prince-ess”: Elana Stone
Enter Elana Stone, one of Sydney’s favourite artists around the traps, to join the band for the second set that pays tribute to the legendary Prince.
This is no ordinary Prince tribute/cover band set. There will be no “Kiss”. No “When Doves Cry”. No “Purple Rain”. No “Raspberry Beret”.
Instead Benét, with Stone at the helm, digs into Prince’s collection of earlier singles. Expect “Private Joy”, “Delirious” and “I Wanna Be Your Lover”.
Elana Stone lends her voice exceptionally well to Prince’s music. Her energy is contagious — an energy that the band and audience alike feed off. You can feel how much fun she’s having from her voice alone, that soulfully and powerfully manoeuvres its way through songs such as “Uptown” and “Sexy Dancer”.
I’ve never seen Prince Live but my gut tells me that only Prince could perform his own songs better than this. The Donny Benét Show Band is comprised of world-class musicians, all of whom could quite deservingly survive in Prince’s own backing band. Though with Stone’s own unique voice and Benét’s unmatched aura of cool, this is a show that even Prince could not deliver. These guys turn Prince’s music into their own, creating so much more than just a Prince cover band.
As I looked around the room, it was incredible to see the Spiegeltent’s transformation. Was I still in Sydney in 2014, or had I somehow been transported to some random nightclub I’d seen on an old episode of Miami Vice? As the set wore on, fewer buttons were done up on shirts and collars were suddenly being worn over jacket lapels. Towards the back of the room, dancers were resurrecting every terrible dance move we thought had been permanently buried for being too daggy.
Needless to say, fun was had all round — myself included.
There are two more opportunities to feel the heat this Sydney Festival and I’ll be there for sure. In the words of Benét himself, “Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Tell the guy who glassed you last night.”
Donny Benét 10, 17 & 24 January at 11.30pm. Festival Village
The Spiegeltent, Hyde Park. Free admission.
