It felt a bit weird wandering into the Spiegeltent in daylight, but you always know something great is going to happen in there…

After a story was told about leaving your heart in Highgate Hill, it was straight into the first song from Sean Sennett’s album of the same name.

And once the tunes started, they just kept rolling.

There was a bit of between-song introductions & banter from Sean Sennett (who wrote all these songs) and then it was right into the next one.

All up, 8 different singers delivering a range of styles and tunes.

Not just 8 terrific artists, but at one point the band had 5 guitarists on stage, including John Willsteed from The Go-Betweens.

Lucinda Shaw, Roz Pappalardo, Deb Suckling, Rachael Dixon, Sue Ray, Megan Cooper, Jackie Marshall and Charlotte Emily all put on a fantastic show.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a gig with so many different artists – while you’re sitting there still humming along with the last song, the next artist would jump up onto the stage and kick off the next one.

It made the whole gig fly by. My pick of the bunch was Roz Pappalardo’s singing “Valentines Day” (brilliant!), but not far behind was Lucinda Shaw and her supercharged, all-energy version of “You broke my heart at the big day out”.

As if you’d break someone’s heart at the BDO…

So could you get a more quintessential Brisbane Festival show? No way.

Great tunes written by a Brisbane artist, performed by amazing Brisbane (or nearby) singers.

The show ended with all 8 artists up on the stage, and Deb Suckling on lead vocals.

So much energy, none of us wanted to leave.

Shows like this are exactly what the Brisbane Festival is all about!

Sean Sennett is an incredibly talented musician and songwriter and it was really clever of him to invite a number of singers with versatile voices to showcase and narrate his songs.

A thorn amongst the roses perhaps, as all the singers were beautiful women with amazing voices.

Luckily he was flanked by his guitar plus a talented group of male musicians – the electric guitar being my favourite!

There was always someone new joining Sean onstage, so I was kept well entertained by different vocals, personalities and dress styles.

The bubble blowing was also a nice touch and tied up nicely with the lovely bubble stage backdrop that framed the drummer.

One or two of the rock songs were a bit loud for my liking, but the singers and band members certainly looked like they were having fun and enjoying the jamming session – with lots of friendly banter between them.

Most of the songs were more mellow and told wonderful stories about Brisbane from the ’70s onwards.

At times I found myself tapping my feet to the beat and wanting to clap along.

I especially enjoyed the song “Angel of Brisbane” sung by Sue Ray.

Her deep voice was soothing to listen to.

The Spiegeltent was an excellent venue, as it provided a cosy and intimate setting and made me feel that I was passing the afternoon with friends – hearing them sing their stories about Brisbane.

Up close and personal. I left feeling happy and relaxed – wanting to find out more about Sean Sennett and to download more of his music to listen to.

What a great way to spend Saturday afternoon at the Brisbane Festival listening to our very own talented Queensland female singers each singing different songs from Sean Sennett’s album, “I Left My Heart in Highgate Hill”.

The singers showed so much enthusiasm and had fun with a little impromptu dancing at times to the very talented band.

The audience was seen tapping away to their music (and) I smiled and tapped away to every song.