Les Femmes’ tagline says it all – “Iconic Male Songs – Powerhouse Female Voices”. Indeed, it is their powerful voices and so much more that made their performance at The Grand Electric truly electrifying. The rich soulful voices of the Les Femmes trio are accompanied by the rhythmic twist of hips and sharply succinct dance choreography.
Emma Mylott, Tia Gigliotti and Jacinta Gulisano opened with a strong rendition of Sinatra’s That’s Life, which had the audience immediately cheering. With almost a full house for Sunday’s gig, The Grand Electric was the perfect home for a cabaret style performance. The space inside was not too large, and the stage jutting out with a small runway brought the singers closer to the audience at different times.
Les Femmes continued with iconic songs from the past bearing a Romantic theme. Singing the famous line “You’re just too good to be true”, they sang Frankie Valli’s Can’t Take My Eyes Off You with heart and heavenly harmony. They continued with a medley of beautiful songs such as How Deep is Your Love, When a Man Loves a Woman and Feeling Good (“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me, oooh, and I’m feeling good” – you know you want to sing along!) These songs highlighted their rich and sensual voices singing in harmony. The high notes were delivered powerfully and sustained with apparent effortless skill but which must have taken countless hours of rehearsal.
There was a touching dedication to Les Femmes’ fathers acknowledging the musical influence on them growing up, with Elton John’s Your Song, The Temptations’ My Girl and Cat Stevens’ Wild World being sung. For this part of the show, the women sat on stools and reminisced, and Jacinta’s dedication of Piano Man to her Grandfather was very sweet. One of my favourite songs was featured during this set, Toto’s Africa. Encouraging audience participation, we sang along and even did a ‘Mexican Wave’ from one side of the theatre to the other and back.
The next segment were songs dedicated to ‘The Players/ The Charmers’ and the mood became funkier, featuring a medley of songs such as My Pony, Justin Timberlake’s Señorita, Stevie Wonder’s Part Time Lover, Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) James Brown’s Get Up, I Feel Like a Sex Machine. The room’s energy changed with the theme and I found myself marvelling at these ladies’ talent from switching from swing and R & B’s soulful songs, to the more modern and funkier songs. The audience witnessed the change and were vocally showing their support, clapping and dancing in their seats.
Les Femmes combined their themes with audience participation. The three singers held a “fun quiz”, asking some male audience members questions to see which category of ‘Good Guy or Charmer’ they fit into. Fortunately they were good sports about this. The women were great hosts, and in-between singing they infused humour throughout their show at the right moments.
After a short interval, Les Femmes returned to the stage and performed their next set, dedicating this part to ‘The Good Guys’ and kicking it off with a fantastic version of Black Box’s Fantasy. I was very happy to hear this one, because my first ever CD was Black Box’s Dreamland! Of course, Barry White’s Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Babe, Bee Gee’s Night Fever and Staying Alive were part of the medley for this theme.
By now, it was astounding hearing how versatile Gulisano, Mylott and Gigliotti’s voice ranges were. There was a mix of songs spanning decades, and the spin they put on these well known and loved songs was impressive.
When one performer took the lead for part of one song, the other two performers supported them with angelic harmony. The three singers had their opportunities to shine and one such highlight was during James Brown’s It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World, and listening to their reaction of cheering and whistling, the audience thought so too.
To end their 2 hour show, the choice of Australian well known songs had everyone standing, dancing and singing. The medley included Daddy Cool’s Eagle Rock, INXS’s Never Tear Me Apart, Darryl Braithwaite’s The Horses, John Farnham’s You’re the Voice and one of my absolute favourite songs, Dragon’s April Sun in Cuba.
At this point, I found myself wondering if there was anything these three singers couldn’t do. They had showcased every genre of music, performed countless iconic male songs spanning decades, and danced with incredible energy and passion. Their performances were an everlasting love letter from them, to the beauty of music. Everyone would have left the theatre singing different songs. Les Femmes is not to be missed!
Duration: 120 minutes
Location: The Grand Electric, 199 Cleveland St Sydney
Tickets: www.bit.ly/3UlHCq4
To book tickets to Les Femmes, please visit https://feverup.com/m/648769.