SYDNEY FESTIVAL : ALLYSHA JOY PLAYS ROBERTA FLACK

Rating ; four stars

We were enjoying a drink in the foyer of the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) prior to seeing the concert ALLYSHA JOY PLAYS ROBERTA FLACK, a concert that is part of Sydney Festival 2025.

There was a really good vibe in the foyer. I am sure that it had a lot to do with the concert taking place on a lovely, still warm summer night 6 (Thursday 23rd January 2025). 

We went in to the ACO theatre to see it set up in the round. There was some seating on the balcony level. The majority of tickets, however, were standing room tickets, in the mosh pit. This is where we took up our position.

Allysha came on stage, together with her band, lead guitarist, bass guitarist, and drummer. This was a very fine tribute show. Allysha, showcasing a strong, soulful voice. started with a warm rendition of Killing Me Softly. perhaps the song that she is most associated with. As well as the poignant ballads, the concert featured more upbeat songs, a fusion of jazz and soul, which got some people dancing. Her uptempo cover of Feel like Makin’ Love was a major highlight 

Allysha chattered to us, in between songs, talking about her great admiration for Roberta, for her great music, and even more for her great independent spirit. Through the concert Allysha played some brief sound bytes of Roberta discussing her music and life. 

Allysha told us that Roberta was one of America’s first female recording producers. She mentioned that even now there aren’t many female producers, and proudly told us that she does some music producing herself.

I made of note Allysha recommending her two favourite Roberta albums, Fire, Fire and  First Dates and will get on to playing them soon. 

Allysha snuck in a few of her own songs from her new album, The Making Of Silk, which was a good fit in with Roberta’s music.

Sadly, the very enjoyable concert only went just over an hour. After the performance, Allysha sold merch in the foyer to new fans, Allysha is mainly Melbourne based, including CDs and vinyl of her new album, and her own home made incense.

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