Jan Preston was the headline act on Tuesday night, and she certainly took on the role with style.

Preston and her boogie woogie style of piano filled the night with crazy riffs and bluesy beats. Her left hand kept up a steady bass riff while her right hand played all over the keys to complete the fresh and lively boogie woogie tunes.

Preston and her drummer Deb Perry went through a series of songs, Preston’s voice ringing out clearly, ranging from soft tones to ringing out powerfully, with a crowd of dancers enjoying the chance to show off their skills.

Preston played the audience the very first piece of boogie woogie piano she ever learned, the Baby Elephant Walk – although this stylish, complicated rendition was surely a little more skilled than the first time she took to the keys (or maybe she was a complete natural from the start?)

Preston had no problems keeping up an atmospheric riff in the background during her friendly banter with the crowd, then encouraged everyone to clap along as she sang a song about driving in the rain – an interesting choice, she admitted, given the current drought many areas of Australia are facing.

Although the very style of boogie woogie means that variance of tunes, beats and riffs are a bit limited, Preston provided the audience with a wide range of examples of the genre, making each song different.

After a song advising that you can mess with Preston’s husband, but not her man, she introduced Perry to the spotlight, to play the spoons.

Perry is a five-time national spoon playing champion, and it was truly a revelation to see her play. Complete with a special thigh-pad and glove, and with Preston playing some ragtime in the background, Perry took the spoons to lengths I’d never seen them before. To think I thought spoons were at their best teamed with chocolate mousse – I was wrong.

Swapping to another pair of spoons for a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells, Perry let her spoons range over her whole body, getting different tones from her arms, chest, knees and even a few cheeky taps to her bottom.

Perry was rewarded with a huge cheer from the crowd when she tapped her final spoon, then jumped back on the drums for a few more lively tunes with Preston’s piano and vocals.

Before too long, Perry grabbed her spoons again to share the spotlight with Preston. Preston played some strong, fast boogie-woogie while Perry showed off the amazing dynamics she could achieve with her two utensils.

After a few more demonstrations on what can be achieved with two spoons and a thigh, Perry took up the drumsticks again for a return to Preston’s classic boogie woogie piano and vocals, with the dancers jumping back onto the dance floor for one last twirl.

Empire Blues 

Next to take to the stage were Andrew MacElroy and his band Empire Blues. They started with a cruisy instrumental that showcased lots of guitar slides, then went into a faster song with MacElroy taking over lead vocals and his drummer and bass player providing backup vocals.

The next song was a bit slower and varied between long guitar solos and MacElroy’s powerful-crooning style of vocals.

Bass player Al Dawson took over the microphone at one point, launching into a moody song that featured MacElroy’s guitar skills during the solos.

A highlight was when MacElroy and Dawson shared the limelight for the chorus of the famous Free hit All Right Now, and finished the song with interweaving vocals.

MacElroy and his band finished the night on a great note, with MacElroy’s guitar solos bringing a tiny bit of rock to the Blues Club that night.