Ask any Melbourne rock fan what they’d rather be doing on a balmy Sunday evening, and few could imagine anything better than gathering with like-minded souls in the Royal Botanic Gardens — soaking up the atmosphere, sitting back or dancing as the sounds of rock’s most unforgettable performers fill the air. From the raw energy of the late-1960s counterculture to the grit of the early-2010s grunge revival. No gimmicks. No gloss – just rock music at its most powerful and honest.
Welcome to the stage, 27 Club — a touring band performing some of the best-known works of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison/The Doors, Kurt Cobain/Nirvana, and Amy Winehouse. The lineup featured Sarah McLeod (The Superjesus), Kevin Mitchell (Jebediah/Bob Evans), Carla Lippis (Mondo Psycho) and Dusty Lee Stephensen (Wanderers), backed by a full live band. Winners of the Adelaide Fringe Festival Best Music Award, the group delivered committed, high-energy performances throughout the night.
It was a strong and well-balanced selection of songs, with some of my personal favourites coming from the Janis Joplin set. The classics from Cheap Thrills (1968) and Pearl (1971) – Piece of My Heart, Cry Baby, Mercedes Benzand Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson) – were delivered with gusto and conviction by Carla Lippis.
There was also a consistently high-impact set from Sarah McLeod, who—alongside Kevin Mitchell, Carla Lippis and Dusty Lee Stephensen—performed a powerful selection of Kurt Cobain/Nirvana material from Nevermind (1991) and In Utero (1993), including About a Girl, Negative Creep, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, Breed, Lithium and All Apologies. The set also extended to Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black (2006), with standout performances of Rehab, You Know I’m No Good, Back to Black, Tears Dry on Their Own and Love Is a Losing Game.
Dusty Lee Stephensen’s guitar work is to be commended, as he handled much of the Hendrix material with precision and technical confidence, while Kevin Mitchell delivered a strong set on rhythm guitar with The Doors songs Break On Through (To the Other Side), Light My Fire, People Are Strange, Love Her Madly and Roadhouse Blues.
Drawing on a rich mix of Baby Boomer and Gen-X rock, alongside early Millennial favourites, the music resonated deeply with the audience, underscoring why Melbourne crowds will undoubtedly welcome 27 Club back again soon.
27 Club Live Presented by the Australian Shakespeare Company, 11-18 January 2026
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