I was caught walking home with a pep in my step: 'Make Love, Not Instruments' by Hat Trick Review

If you live and die by the choir, are a questioning a ca-sceptic or want to explore what kind of love the mouth can make: make an effort to catch Make Love, Not Instruments. Expect a technically gifted and rehearsed choir in an intimate setting.

I settle into the rough, linen cushions of the grandma couch at a level lower than I’d like but one that is certainly comfortable. The people next to me are enamoured with excitement, I greet them and absorb the mise-en-scene. Brushed unsealed concrete, outdoor heating fixtures (inside), fairy lights and exposed wires. It is aggressively Marrickville. The stage, lit romantically in warm whites, pinks, and pastel blues is framed by a sweet arch of hand painted love hearts. This all drizzled in a jazz-classics pre-show playlist.

For me, a cappella has always been an impressive, albeit trite…novelty. Usually reserved for school talent shows, churches, musical theatre, and aggressively American musical comedies like Glee and Pitch Perfect. So before the show I sit, grandma couch comfy, with a reluctant excitement. ‘The Spare Keys’ with their outrageously good name, fantastic vocals, and charming presence checked my ticket on the hater-train.

The ‘Spare Keys’ in Make Love, Not Instruments take you by the hand on a vocal journey, sonically stunning with a rich setlist of showtunes, mid-century love songs and modern belters. Their second stage venture after their sold-out debut The Mouth, The Whole Mouth and Nothing but the Mouth last year. Make Love, Not Instruments is a power-hour displaying the full capabilities of an a capella choir. Each ‘Spare Key’ brings technical prowess, lively stage presence and passion.

They have an astounding rapport and chemistry, each performer’s talents were used extensively but never drowning each other out. The show rotates between utilising the whole choir at once, soloists with a backing choir, and smaller quintets. Joy Liu stands out as a soloist in ‘Before He Cheats’. With a distinctive alto timbre, she glides effortlessly from bar to bar, capturing the solumness of the track.

Although few, there were some moments, especially in whole choir pieces, where certain sections were significantly louder than others. This made it difficult to fully experience the song as intended — a shame especially as soloists were difficult to hear even when mic’d.

Most of the show’s content was arranged by members of ‘The Spare Keys’ Anna Natalcen, Jack Andrew-Kabilafkas, and Jeremy Kindl. Overall, they were original and inspired. Where their arrangements shone was in their interpretation of classics and show tunes like ‘If I Loved You’ from Carousel, ‘Make Our Garden Grow’ from Candide, and ‘Night and Day’ from Gay Divorce (Cole Porter). ‘Night and Day’ was especially sweet, tugs of sleeves, grips of arms, and yawn-and-stretches permeated from couple to couple.

Interpretations of merseybeats like The Turtles’ ‘Happy Together’ and The Beatles’ ‘Norwegian Wood’ were distinct and memorable, ‘Happy Together’ faithful enough to the original to illicit nostalgia for cinema classics like Muriel's Wedding and The Simpsons Movie but unique enough to create its own emotional memory. I would also have liked to see more from ‘The Spare Keys’ in ‘Norwegian Wood’; its ending was abrupt and it would’ve been nice to see them attempt to replicate the sitar vocally — a challenge they proved themselves up to throughout the show. Their arrangements of more contemporary songs were more varied. Their opener, an original arrangement of ‘It's Raining Men’ was an ear-catcher, snatching my attention and making sure I knew this was an a cappella show. However, songs of the 2010s like ‘Mother’ (Charlie Puth) and ‘Leave the Door Open’ (Silk Sonic) were less inspired. ‘Mother’ lacked the originality found in many of their other tracks and felt like more of a translation of the original into a capella. ‘Leave the Door Open’ suffered the same issue, but only for some of the song. It fluctuated significantly in textural depth which was occasionally brilliant and occasionally jarring. Their ultimate performance; Earth, Wind and Fire’s ‘September’ was absolutely raucous. It had a rich sonic depth, beautiful harmonies and lively energy. Afterward I was caught walking home with a pep in my step.

The Show is not a playlist, it features several onstage transitions, some reminiscent of stand-up, others a live exegesis. Occasionally, their comedic transitions had a distinctly millennial feeling, which made me feel a little left out, reminding me of pitfalls of Pitch Perfect. However, they were a much needed bridge between performances, giving my senses a moment to breathe and amusing other punters. Their audience-interaction transitions were stronger, breaking the ice and including the audience in the already infectious fun that the choir was obviously having. Although seldom, the brief moments of artistic honesty we heard from Andrew-Kabilafkas and Natlacen added a depth, which was particularly engaging.

If you live and die by the choir, are a questioning a ca-sceptic or want to explore what kind of love the mouth can make: make an effort to catch Make Love, Not Instruments. Expect a technically gifted and rehearsed choir in an intimate setting.

‘Make Love, Not Instruments’ will be available again from the 27th-30th of September at the Sydney Fringe Festival, tickets available here