Review: Sweet as Swing - Arkaba Hotel

Sunday 15/03/2021

Upstairs at the Arkaba is a great venue to see live bands and has been a massive supporter to entertainers over the last 40 years.  

Sweet as swing featured a super talented backline including the amazing Bonnie Aue on Bass, the engine of Josh Baldwin on drums, Ciara Ferguson on piano and Tylerl Venter on guitar.

Their Aussie Classics reimagined show is a collection of complex but cool arrangements of songs such as "Highway to Hell"," What About me," "Great Southern Land", "Reminiscing" and more.  The front line of Ryan Casey, his brother Andrew, Kelly Doddridge and the sometimes hilarious Marcus Ryan showcased what they learned at the Adelaide Conservatorium of Music - Jazz.  There were distractions of a news cast, tap dancing and audience participation where they taught harmony sections to an eager crowd.

Sweet as Swing has a new generation of extremely talented musicians presenting a some times tongue in cheek look at what might have happened if AC/DC had completed a jazz degree.  They are in a lane where there is no competition and their arrangements are a testament to their dedication and talent as musicians.

They have a CD in the works and with some more shows under its belt have huge potential to realise commercial success.  Whilst Doddridge is the leader, it is the personality and cheekiness of Ryan that keeps the show moving to a climax where they all drop their pants.

Keep an eye on Sweet as Swing, they could be the next big thing.

4 Stars

Stephen Foenander for Adelaide Review Team

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