At Last, the Etta James Story

On Wednesday night I was lucky enough to be gifted two tickets to see Vika Bull star as Etta James in At Last, The Etta James Story. I was so excited to see this, because I thought Vika Bull was the perfect choice to play Etta James, a vocal powerhouse and sexy sass personified.

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It was a date night for us, but it wasn't until we where in the car that I got the chance to tell Mr BC about where we where going and what we where going to see. (He's not uninterested, just busy, I promise.) Once I told him he was super excited because he's been a fan of Vika Bull and her sister Linda since their Paul Kelly and also Black Sorrows days.




Although I was a fan of Vika's I had only heard a little about Etta James, and had no idea of just how troubled her life was. I knew a few of her songs and had seen her on TV, but didn't know anything about the story behind them. I found the narrative style of the show to be really interesting and informative, but not intrusive at all - the songs provided the drama rather than any actors, and in the life story of a singing legend, that is how it should be.




I learnt that Etta James was actually born James Etta, and it wasn't until she got a record deal as a teenager that her name was changed around. She was born to a 14 year old drug addict, who spent a lot of time in and out of jail. Etta was raised in foster care before becoming embroiled in drug addiction and jail terms of her own. There where many escapades, including being banned from the state of Alaska, running from bounty hunters, and pawning the bands instruments. She had two children, and at one stage spent a torturous 17 months in rehabilitation. She experienced extreme highs and lows, and all throughout this, her voice was her strength and salvation, even when she thought that the drugs where.




This narrative set the scene for each song - why it was sung, what it meant to Etta, and how she felt about the current state of her life was brilliantly imparted by the lyrics themselves, not to mention the incredible voice of Vika Bull.




I was lucky enough to meet Vika and the band after the show, and to my delight they are a group of genuinely lovely people. Vika herself was down to earth, chatty and with a great sense of humour. She was a pleasure to meet!



If you get the chance to see At Last: The Etta James Story my advice is to jump on that chance and go, you won't regret it. It's playing at The Brisbane Powerhouse until Saturday, before heading off to Adelaide. Tickets are available here, or if you can get to the Brisbane dates then I highly recommend making a night of it with the following offer.


Linking up to FYBF

Disclaimer - I was gifted 2 tickets, and that is all. As usual, all words and enthusiasm are my own.