Catherine Alcorn Live (Ginger’s) ★★★★

The crowd is rowdy, the drinks are flowing, the banter is bawdy and the band is swinging – Catherine Alcorn is putting life and limb on the line (and occasionally over it) to entertain the crazy, packed-to-the-rafters crowd at Ginger’s on Oxford Street.

From the clutch of drunk middle aged women (on day release from their marriages & kids), to the mobs of drunk gays of indeterminate age (glistening with botox and booze), to Sydney drag & cabaret legends and younger, gender-diverse fans – a Catherine Alcorn gig is a volatile cocktail of fun.

You may think Alcorn’s great strength is her powerhouse vocals, but it is in fact her ability to ad-lib. The same goes for her incredibly sharp band — Oliver Stanton on keys, Ned Koncar on guitar, Tina Harris on bass and Jack Powell on drums. When the night’s set list took a back seat to a jukebox-like tangent — providing some extra hits of Britney, Cher and more for the adoring crowd — the band was quick to pivot where the room’s energy was leading.

It’s this energy — less a stately night of show tunes sung with the audience sat in neat rows listening intently, and more a variety show mixed with a speak-easy lock-in — that threatens to raise the roof. The guest acts are diverse – from musical comedian Jackie Loeb (Sydney Comedy Festival shows coming up very soon), to jazz trumpeter James Sarno, and some unexpectedly erotic piano work from Sydney cabaret legend Phil Scott.

Meanwhile the crowd were treated to a broad set list weaving from Adele to TLC, Dolly Parton to Phil Collins, with some musical theatre thrown in — a Sex & the City-infused Kylie Minogue number, a Robyn singalong, and a crowd pumping rendition of Raye. Somehow, the pivot to a genuinely emotional performance of Elton John’s Your Song, dedicated to an audience member, didn’t seem out of place in a night this eclectic.

As the crowd crammed into every possible bit of spare space — and I do mean every nook & cranny available — Alcorn worked the room and never held back. On her stiletto heels, shimmering in sequins & jewels, she looks like a vision and swears like a trucker, and has the audience in the palm of her hand. When she took a shocking tumble from the stage mid-set, her response was instant: “I’m fine” — and she was back on the mic before the gasps had settled. She returned for the second act on a visibly swollen ankle and didn’t miss a beat. The show must go on, and with Alcorn, it always does.

Walking out onto Taylor Square, after a full evening of music, it felt good to see Oxford Street was still alive. Gentrification be damned, the strip still has some loud, lascivious life left in it yet and Catherine Alcorn’s monthly gigs (and Ginger’s other offerings like Big Gay Piano Bar) are a great addition.