Above and featured: Lime Cordiale gave a joyous, layered performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Images: Jordan Munns.
If you haven’t been to the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall when it lets its hair down to party, then make sure you do. An annual schedule of home grown and visiting contemporary performers are featured. Bands, film music, gaming soundtracks, electronic musicians or music streaming legends plus world music superstars take the venue to new heights, with tech and effective stadium-like atmospheric elements added.
If you have never seen an orchestral concert, especially one of the huge yearly events of an SSO season, then a special night awaits you. Whether you catch a blockbuster classic movie with live soundtrack, an anime music inspired event or a well-known Australian band, the energy and excursion to this iconic landmark will amaze you.
And so, like recent concerts with The Cat Empire and SSO, Genesis Owusu, and SSO, Electric Fields and SSO, the music of Hans Zimmer or Joe Hisaishi, the extension of Lime Cordiale’s music from three consistently successful albums to a fleshed-out orchestral event was an exciting transformation . It brought the band’s fans, SSO followers, tourists and curious onlookers to the Concert Hall for quite the night- with RENT the musical also attracting a new crowd to watch it just next door at the Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre.
This extension or transformation was one that the insanely talented communicators and obviously nice humans from Lime Cordiale took impressively in their stride. Swathed in superb contemporary-venue-mode lighting, made buoyant by fan energy SSO’s orchestral precision, their solid musical discussions glowed with increased drama and colour.
Above: The Sydney Opera House Concert Hall in contemporary music mode. Image: Jordan Munns.
Alex Turley’s stunning arrangements, in hit moments from this gig such as ‘Addicted to the Sunshine’ it was easy for audience members of all experience levels to love Lime Cordiale as frontmen for this compelling musical troupe, led by the dynamic conductor Vanessa Scammell. The earnest life anthems fans have treasured in Lime Cordiale’s albums worked so well in Alex Turley’s orchestrations.
From strident moments such as ‘Robbery’ to more intimate statements, Turvey’s nicely contoured and measured orchestral accompaniments were sensitively delivered by SSO. At all times, regardless of the song’s energy level being performed the orchestra were in fine balance with the inimitable and familiar vocal tone colours of the brothers plus backup vocals, extra guitars and drums on stage.
Lush swooning gesturing and punctuation of song lyrics by SSO strings was excellent and a perfect tutorial on the power and variety possible from a symphony orchestra.. Percussion and brass enhancements stretched parts of some songs but the down to earth comments and charm that have made Lime Cordiale so popular was still essentially there for us, not seriously blurred.
This was thanks to the subtle and appropriate arrangements from gifted orchestrator-arranger Turley, as well as fine leadership from Scammell on the podium. In ideal crossover concert fare-still always welcome in Sydney-our SSO band added to the joy of Lime Cordiale on stage with many atmospheric orchestral introductions and postludes to further joyously celebrate this band’s output.
At this event it was super easy to be addicted to the groove of Lime Cordiale in orchestra -plus- band enhancement. Oli and Louis Leimbach looked deserving in front of SSO musicians, like they had been performing in this guise for years. Their fun anthems, full of cool lyrics and short, sharp, clear, quirky narratives survived this concert’s expansion very well.
Above: Lime Cordiale’s frontmen Oli and Louis Leimbach. Image: Jordan Munns.
Fans both former and new were up dancing, drinking, waving phone lights and singing along to entire songs were testament to Lime Cordiale’s presence over the years live, on radio, at music festivals and touring the country. This groove, innate song-writing skill and warm, natural vocal excellence plus engaging stage presence is the style of storytelling Australia has been lucky to posses for decades. It is the popular, humble and down to earth musical life tropes that will save us as it entertains.
The Leimbach brothers’ vocals and musicianship showed incredible fitness in the concert’s pairing with the classically trained musicians behind them. Contours of songs made popular with smaller forces were excellently and unobtrusively supported by the orchestra. Lime Cordiale brought out several guitars and wind instruments and how spot on the balance with SSO as led by Vanessa Scammell. The original Lime Cordiale band’s vocals and guitars more than survive the addition of a symphony orchestra.
Above: Vanessa Scammell conducted the SSO for this collaboration with SSO. Image: Jordan Munns.
There were breathtaking, penetrating a capella vocal breaks from the Lime Cordiale boys plus back-up and even an intro appearance on trumpet by Louis and tenor sax from Oli. Backup vocalist turned guitar soloists for “Love is on the Floor” mixed the visual and instrumental line up beautifully up. Clarinet also joined the additional instrument ranks from the Lime Cordiale front men. In “You have no Place” Louis’ kazoo was supported by SSO plus conductor in a special collaborative moment.
Songs like ‘Elephant in the Room’ and ‘Love is Off the Table’ brought magic and many colours to the space, sending the well-tempered crowd wild. An unreleased song (‘Household Name’),dedicated to the Leimbach boys’ late father, was a goosebump moment that brought new music into this event’s mix. It was also a collaborative highlight with SSO- cleanly defining the use of music to cope with our lives, illustrating how talents such as the Lime Cordiale team and SSO deal with deep feelings and fresh grief.
This concert, and recent orchestral collaborative ones performed across Australia by Lime Cordiale, take genres, venues and perceptions and toss them right out of our 2025 window. Another feather in the full yearly Sydney Symphony Orchestra cap, its blending of audience demographics, extra functionality of our landmark House and value as a good night out kick started the weekend in great style.
