Live Review: Goodgod Tin Pan Alley

A healthy Vivid crowd gathered to witness an eclectic mix of performers, handpicked by Goodgod to reflect the venue's wide-ranging interests, while the set, a careful recreation of the textured walls and neon tropical lighting of Goodgod, attempted to capture the vibe of the iconic Sydney venue. Unfortunately, it didn't really translate well to the expansive space and tiered seating of the Opera House.

The first few performances, which could've been intimate and special in a smaller space, seemed to be lost to the venue's grand scale. Shogun delivered a handful of great acoustic songs (and what a voice!) but he was inexplicably positioned to look off stage, and never addressed the audience. Bart Willoughby is a captivating performer as well, but was painfully underused, performing only two or three songs in total.

Directly combating this lack of intimacy was the enigmatic Donny Benét, who appeared from the right side of the hall and proceeded to serenade a young couple face-to-face with just a fretless bass. He then produced a saxophonist (a pretty excellent one at that), and the two proceeded to swap solos from across the room, each perched on a balcony. Benét proves time and again what a versatile and engaging performer he is.

Thankfully, the energy picked up from here. Montero again delivered that intimacy, this time taking its form as smooth, delicate synth-psych, with Supertramp guitars interlaced with '70s soft-rock keys, and frontman Bjenny Montero making full use of the stage, harnessing a wide-eyed playfulness one could equate with Kevin Barnes or even David Bowie.

It wasn't until South Africa's best-kept secret Penny Penny took the stage that it became really apparent why this show had to be at the Opera House. The singer's personality was just too big to limit to a small stage, and as his band belted out the Afro-disco-meets-'90s-house dance tunes, the audience had no choice but to join in, quickly learning the song's catchy refrains. Before long the whole room was dancing, and dancing hard – one of the back-up singers' outfits seemed to be falling apart on stage – and the blissful rhythms kept the energy high through a long but never tiring set.