“You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter!” said Ali McGregor of her songlist of the trashiest pop songs she could find from the ’80s and ’90s. And even though the songs weren’t gold in themselves they did glitter with the classiest reimaginings imaginable.
Singer Ali McGregor.
Do you remember “Barbie Girl” from Aqua, that Danish-Norwegian pop-dance group? It was trash personified, but McGregor turned it into a slow, sultry, sexy love song. And what about “Bang Bang (my Baby Shot me Down)”? She took the mickey right out of it – unceremoniously, but with amazing vocal agility.
And all the others got treatments of tango and mambo, soul and blues, ballad and torch, swing and jive. Even that New Orleans jazz style got a go.
Backing McGregor were some of the finest in the business, all giving the best in understated accompaniment brilliance. At the piano was ARIA award-winning Sam Keevers, with bass legend Jonathan Zwartz and versatile drummer Hugh Harvey. I wouldn’t have minded hearing more solo work from these guys.
But it was McGregor’s show and her stage presence and personality had the audience in the palm of her hand right from the start. She was lively, funny and witty from beginning to end. Hers is very much a cabaret-style show, playing to and engaging the audience thoroughly professionally and, even better, a bit wickedly.
And her singing… well, she came from the ANU School of Music, further uni study in the UK and an operatic background.
McGregor’s voice is a powerhouse of style and range, and her control takes her effortlessly from whispering silk to ear-pinning muscle. All the same, it is never forced and her highs and her sustained notes held the audience spellbound.
And what of that which was rolled in glitter? In Ali McGregor’s case, if it wasn’t gold, she certainly waved a magic wand to make it so. Fabulous!
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