Review: DRIVE LOUNGE: VOLUME 6, Oran Mor

Created by Chiara Sparkes and Ross Baxter, Drive Lounge is a new musical theatre cabaret night in Glasgow. Showcasing some of the incredible talent we have here, the event has been running at different venues since last April and Volume 6 is being staged in the beautiful Oran Mor auditorium.

The evening is staged in three rounds with ten performers doing two songs each. The brief for Volume 6 is "All Roads Lead To Scotland" which sees performers either singing something by a Scottish act, or in their own accent. 

The setup in the Oran Mor is so beautiful, I wondered if I had accidentally stumbled into a wedding. Setting the tone for the level of talent to expect, John McGlone kicks things off with a wonderfully sassy "Poor Unfortunate Souls". The evening is a mix of contemporary pop songs and musical theatre numbers and Yana Harris does a lovely "Tears Dry On Their Own" by Amy Winehouse. I was also completely blown away by Jennifer Neil's "Into The Unknown" performed in a Scottish accent with some truly incredible belting. A true highlight of the evening was Kayla Milligan closing the show with "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" from the film and soon-to-be stage musical Wild Rose. 

It's difficult to pinpoint where it descended into "chaos at the family wedding" but I think it was somewhere between the sun eventually setting through the stained glass windows and Kim Shepherd's fantastic performance of "Shout" made famous by Lulu. What really strikes you about Drive Lounge Volume 6 is not only the talent onstage but the support in the room from the audience.

The format of the evening is brilliant, the quality of the musical arrangements is fantastic and the level of ability of these performers is quite frankly, nuts. Chiara Sparkes and Ross Baxter have created something truly special in showcasing the wealth of talent we have here in Glasgow.