“It’s just an amazing opportunity to catch some of these national artists in a very intimate setting,” says Lane. “The venue looks amazing, the acoustics are great, everything about it is just on point, presentation-wise. That’s something that all the acts are excited about too, and we’re sure that’ll translate to the audience as well once they’re there. So we just highly recommend catching this style of performance.”
Kicking off proceedings on Thursday January 21 is the somewhat unlikely pairing of Shihad frontman Jon Toogood and former Powderfinger guitarist, Darren Middleton. Between their respective bands and solo careers, the pair has over 20 albums of material to draw from, and they’re sure to include a few surprises too.
“Jon plays plenty of Shihad songs in his acoustic sets,” says Lane. “There’ll be some stuff from their most recent album [Fvey], which just cleaned up at the New Zealand Music Awards, as well as all the hits of course. I’m sure he’ll do some of his favourite classic covers as well, and some solo material that he hasn’t released yet but has been playing live.”
It’ll be a similar thing with Middleton. “He’ll play all of the Powderfinger songs that he wrote, plus he’s got two solo records to choose from as well.”
The rest of the lineup looks to be just as exciting and diverse. “We’ve got a lot of great acts that are at various stages of their album cycles,” says Lane. “Abbe May will be previewing material from a forthcoming solo album, Ash Grunwald’s just wrapping up an album tour and gets to bring that music back to Melbourne.”
“We’ve got Thando Sikwila, who was in Dreamgirls the musical,” says Mustafa. “Her voice is amazing, make sure you check her out. And Nathan Hawes, who is just recording an album so he’s doing most of the numbers from that, which will be different from his usual acoustic sessions. So there’s something for everyone in there.”
Local folk pop three-piece Woodlock will wrap up the series on Saturday January 30. However, live original music won’t disappear from Chapel Off Chapel when the Summer Series comes to a close. Lane and Mustafa plan to persevere with the concept and strengthen the presence of live music south of the Yarra.
“We’re hoping to have maybe a Chapel Winter Sessions, or Chapel Autumn Sessions as well,” says Mustafa. “South-side there aren’t that many live venues that are intimate like this, so we want to bring it down south-side. So hopefully with our equipment and the intimacy of our theatre – the sound is amazing and you’re up close and personal. It doesn’t matter what seat you get, you’re getting sung to.”
Chapel Off Chapel’s splendid intimacy isn’t its only unique feature. “Overall in Melbourne there’s not a lot of all-ages venues,” says Lane. “So we’re really excited to be a point of difference in that sense. And then there’s the rich history that the venue has got with some of the acts that have played there for the Live at the Chapel series, I think re-highlighting this as a live music venue is just a great thing for Melbourne in general.”
BY ROD WHITFIELD
