80’s Ladies is back at the Fringe this year for another season of fluoro outfits, big hair, and non-stop 80s hits. The show was incredibly popular last year, so it’s no surprise to see the Moa comfortably full for their opening show. Presented by Chloe Castledine and The Cast Entertainment, 80’s Ladies has the full-on energy of a dance party. Hit after 80’s hit was stuffed into a mere 60 minutes, using seamless transitions that meant the talented band almost never stopped playing throughout the entire show. Chloe’s voice is sensational. She is a chameleon who manages to echo Cyndi’s twang one minute and Whitney’s belt the next. She is commanding as a lead singer and showed excellent stamina through a vocally demanding set list. Chloe led us through hits from all the leading ladies of 80’s pop and rock, such as Sweet Dreams, Walking on Sunshine, Material Girl, 9 to 5, Do The Locomotion, What a Feeling (featuring a stunning dance solo by Sam), It’s Raining Men, The Eternal Flame (featuring solo moments by Christina Guala-Goodwin, Flik Freeman, and Stephanie Cole), I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), and Simply The Best, as well as a Xanadu medley, complete with roller skating dance solo by Carmen Bryant. All of this was accompanied by the skilled dancers from Impact Entertainment (choreographed by Shenayde Wilkinson-Sarti), presenting their usual high standard with finesse, energy and stage presence. There were a remarkable number of costume changes for a 60-minute show. While most of these worked seamlessly, there were one or two moments when a costume change clearly didn’t quite work as intended, including a moment of Chloe singing an entire verse of a song offstage due to a wardrobe malfunction. While the costumes were colourful and oh so 80’s, the wigs were of varying quality. Some of them looked great, but others didn’t hold up too well in the energetic dance numbers. The music was directed by David Goodwin (keys) and featuring Flik Freeman (bass/vocals), Sam Cagney (electric guitar), Alexander Flood (drums), Christina Guala-Goodwin (sax/vocals), Leah Zwech (electric violin) and Stephanie Cole (backing vocals). This team was tight and professional, though this musician would have loved to have heard more saxophone and keytar in the mix (provided by the venue with the briefest of sound checks), as there were some iconic solo moments that deserved to shine. With every female-driven hit from the 80’s that you could imagine, plus an energy coming from the stage that makes it impossible to not get up and dance, 80’s Ladies is a definite win for this year’s Fringe.