Review: “Slay the Pain Away”

Skank Sinatra at the Castlereagh Boutique Hotel, 15th September

A myriad of emotions befell upon me as I walked two flights of stairs to the cabaret club inside the Castlereagh Boutique Hotel. One that did not cross my mind was embarrassment. As I handed my phone over, the ticket wrangler informed me I had the wrong pass. Unfortunately I had arrived a week too early.

Giddy to arrive on the actual date of the performance, I was struck with amazement with the decadent decor within the Cabaret Club. Grandeur mixed with nostalgia can best describe it, a perfect backdrop for what was to come.

Photo Courtesy of Jens Radda

As the lights dimmed, Jens Radda aka Skank Sinatra entered the cabaret club readily serving sass to the audience, holding court with such command and vigour. With cheek they bantered with the audience, adding to the immersive experience.

Jens Radda was a brilliant performer, absolutely slaying renditions of iconic Frank Sinatra songs. The parody of New York, New York but instead the performer inserted Melbourne ironically, as a playful jab at the Sydney audience.

Throughout the show bestowed upon my face was a smile at its widest, a mind of wonderment, bereft of heinous thoughts and anxieties, a truly awe inducing show. Simply, it was and shall remain an amazing experience.

The highlight of the show was the eloquent dabbling of My Way and That’s Life. Each song equal of their magnitude and musical punch, Jens understood one must not end with My Way, but sometimes one cannot help themselves to bring the house down with the obligatory end of such a song.

I was transported. Transfixed upon the performance, I truly loved it. For a show to so easily strip the wandering mind of all other thoughts other than, why am I smiling so much that singular tears are dropping down my blushing cheeks? I cannot adequately put into words the enjoyment I experienced.