254 West 54th Street in New York City has always been hot property. Opened as the Gallo Opera House in 1927 then becoming CBS’s television quarters from 1942-1975, Studio 54 hit its iconic stride in 1977, when Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager ran it as the infamous discotheque for a three-year stint. A hangout for the rich, the famous and the beautiful – artist Andy Warhol, singer-actress Liza Minnelli, the designer Halston and former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis were regulars – open sexual activity and club drugs were common go-tos for patrons, who shared a love of disco.

Flip the world upside down and swap out the coke for South Aussie wine, Studio 54 was at the Fringe for a one-night-only show, and Adelaide soul, funk and blues band Love Soul Deep brought the disco. Disco: the most overhyped and critically underestimated genre. It’ll never die. 

Under what might be the city’s largest disco ball, the crowd at the Arkaba’s Top of the Ark danced in droves from the first notes of the opening song Stayin Alive through to the finale – Donna Summer’s farewell celebration Last Dance, so apt. But with a show that’s titled Studio 54 Sing For Your Life, the night was clearly not all about dancing. 

Supreme vocalist Natalie Ermer got down amongst it, scouting out the voices of the bold who, if they made the cut, got up on stage and joined the nine-piece band with microphone in hand. There was no way of knowing who’d rise. Could be one of the band’s groupies who’d earlier led the masses in the Bus Stop (right two, left two, turn right, repeat), or perhaps the unassuming pensioner who blasted everyone away with Patti LaBelle’s spicey Lady Marmalade. As vocalist and keyboardist Nat Pike said of her, ‘She was actually fully tanked.’ 

Love Soul Deep are high-energy entertainment. Ermer and Ana-Lena Veale on vocals had occasional mind-blowing moments, while Patrick Stapleton on trombone, Geo Heathcote on sax and Robbie Williams on trumpet made up an infectious horn section, particularly memorable playing Average White Band’s Pick Up The Pieces. Pete McManus on bass, Julian Perotta on drums and Dean Kelley on guitar were also fuelled with high-octane dynamism, ensuring the onstage party was having as good a time as the crowd they played to. It was all a bit of interactive fun, proving you’re never too old to disco.

If you love cover bands and you don’t mind plastic bubble blowers and glittery cowboy hats laid out for grabs (though those would’ve been handpicked for the themed night), you should check Love Deep Soul out at their other Adelaide gigs and get your boogie on.