Geraldine Quinn is a powerful singer with excellent vocal craft and stamina. I know of very few female vocalists who can belt, strut and flay themselves round stage for an hour, with the same intensity, passion and enthusiasm that Geraldine gifts to her audience in her one woman show, You’re The Voice.

She is the voice, no question. She’s an amazing soloist, who at one point holds a note for longer than ole Barbs Streisand in ‘Woman In Love’. That’s impressive.

As she launches onto stage for her first NZ appearance, wearing a confused Spanish-meets-cocktail-hour outfit of rainbow tulle, fishnets and stilettos, it’s soon apparent Geraldine’s work would be better received in a cabaret or bar setting. Sitting in the front few rows of an intimate theatre, up close and personal with the performance intensity of Geraldine’s rock anthems – which are epic and vast by nature – can be a bit awkward for some.

The premise of her show is to entertain by sharing her love of 1980s rock anthems, which peaked when John Farnham and his mullet stood on top of the Australian rock landscape, back in 1986.

This was her inspiration to write her own epic rock ballads, rock marathons, and glam rock classics. She proves she has the perfect vocal stylings for the genre, as she sings about the world she knows and what she’s experienced in her 37 years of rocking on in Oz. This includes living with her parents, road trips with her huge family, drinking, growing up in Dandenong, teenage parties and finally, her love for her work and the resulting Festival adventure.

The latter finds its voice via an all-inclusive, in-house 7-½ minute mini-rock-opera, covering technical nightmares, volunteers with flyers, critics and what the hell do their reviews really mean. She doesn’t care in the end; she’s belts out: “Let’s do it again!”  

While this could’ve been a natural upbeat finale, not one, but two oddly-placed reflective ballads, plus a short speech follow. On saying that, I do enjoy Geraldine best when she slows everything down, stands centre stage, and just sings. Reflective lyrics such as ‘Mortgage All Your Castles In The Sky’, and ‘I’m Not Soaring But At Least I’m Not Falling’ have honest charm. 

Her talent as a singer-songwriter is undeniable. She’s got a great ear for a catchy tunes, sweet harmonies, excellent song construction and fitting instrumentation. Hence, her self-diagnosed ‘Anthemania” ticks all the appropriate boxes, as she belts out anthem after anthem, to well-produced backing tracks and with feisty thrusts, kicks, fist-punches and other standard glam-rock poses.

Her lyrics – at times crass and clichéd in the upbeat songs, desperate and corny in the ballads – are also in keeping with her much-loved genre. She adds a nice twist here and there, such as the song from an older dude’s perspective at a teenage party, who belts ‘You’re Not The One I Wanted, But You’ll Do’.

My personal favourite is in a great tune about the Melbourne metropolitan public transport system, complete with musical breakdown and audience clapping in the middle, as Geraldine chirps that love-birds Renee and Dean are “just three train rides and a couple of buses” from true love. 

If you are looking for some new toe-tapping tunes sung well, and a well-rehearsed musical (and personal) story about reflecting on the past, following your passion, overcoming self-deprecation and doubt… go and see the colourful Geraldine Quinn. She’s still searching for her Kiwi audience – only 13 of us turned up on opening night.   

Finally, while Geraldine has such a vast and impressive vocal range, personally, I came away feeling the show overall was a bit one-note. However, others were entertained and impressed throughout the night.

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