Several months ago along the rapidly changing but always interesting King St of Newtown another great new restaurant has opened up offering both a good meal and accompanying performance. Shows performed on the small bohemic stage at the front of the restaurant and guests span jazz, blues, vocalists, bands and electronica. This evening featured Inga Liljestrom with her amazing live show to present new album Elk. Inga Liljestrom has have performed vocals for Itch-e & Scratche, Hi-Fi Mike, Friendly, Ens and Gerling. The music could be compared to the styles of Bjork, Portishead and Lamb; combining the psychedelic sounds of good trip hop with some great effect driven live instruments. The first single from their album Elk titled Phoenix is currently on rotation on Triple J, and the album is getting great reviews from a variety of sources.
 
The restaurant is situated towards the Sydney Uni end of King St and has a generally dark and classy décor throughout. The look of the interior can be best described by the comment on their website: “With a 1920’s feel to the interior, the Vanguard’s friendly and unpretentious luxury has an ambience unlike any other.” When you enter the restaurant the layout consists of a lower level bar and dining tables filling the remaining floor space; while up on the first level there is a balcony overlooking the dining area and stage and a heap of comfortable seating to enjoy. If you have reserved a table for the show then you have the choice of A-la-Carte dining or Tapas for your meal whilst other guests can order smaller snacks which do not have to be eaten at a table.

Each show usually follows the general schedule of approx 1hr of performance by the support act from 9pm followed by a short break and the main performance which goes to approximately 1130pm. Tonight the support act was Michael Lira’s Cinema Fantasma; a show consisting of two musicians playing a very twisted but dramatic soundtrack to old black and white movie footage from the early days of cinema. I must say this was very interesting as it is such a strictly personal interpretation and overall had a very trippy suspenseful vibe to it all. IT was also very interesting watching these two interacting with each other and the dynamic visual changes to create a very intense vibe which had the entire room silent.
  
After a short intermission was the main act Inga Liljestrom with Elk septet who kicked off with a great soulful trip hop vocal tune. The band accompanying Inga was amazing and consisted of some very talented musicians on guitar, drums, two on stings and a double bass. The general sound was great live and was given further depth by the excellent use of effects (even on the drums) which worked very well in combination with Inga’s powerful voice. The tracks ranged from very vocal focussed to really rocking trip hop tracks which conveyed a lot of energy and emotion. Some of the audience members even got up and partook in a little bit of a dance throughout some of the tracks.

Overall, it was a fantastic performance by Inga Liljestrom and her band that sounded great in this venue. I have no doubt this great new venue and restaurant will quickly gain further popularity and having now been for both ‘dinner with a show’ as well as for the performance only, I can only highly recommend it. However with popularity comes lack of space so be sure to get there early if you don’t have a table reserved for the show you are going to see. If you are heading for just the show tickets usually set you back approximately $15 whilst if you have dinner and an entrée with the show expect to spend about $50.
 
For ticket information check out http://www.thevanguard.com.au