Review: Radnor and Lee at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne

I don't really know where to begin this blog so I guess I'll start by asking the question, have you met Radnor and Lee? No? Okay, well basically, Australia's singing sensation, Ben Lee, who has been around since the 90s started a band with his mate Josh Radnor, who played Ted Mosby in How I Met Your Mother for nine years, and who also starred in the now cancelled, musical drama, Rise.

You're probably wondering what type of music Radnor and Lee would play, well to answer that question, it's mostly folksy accoustic music and it's actually really good.

So the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne holds 1000 people. It's a traditional theatre with stalls at the front, two balcony levels and then private boxes on the side. It's really quite a beautiful theatre.

Anyway, getting back to Radnor and Lee, Australian singer, Sally Seltmann opened for them and performed a set of six songs. I'd never heard of her which is odd given she and Ben Lee actually go way back as friends (they share the same birthday - the 11th of September, except there's a few years difference between them, so they had a shared birthday when they were 18).

Sally has a very similar style to Radnor and Lee in that she focuses on a minimalistic set. It's all about the guitars and keyboard. I wish I knew the name of the first song she sung but I honestly don't remember and I haven't been able to find out. All I remember is that it was a keyboard based song and that it was very singer songwriter style, the type of music you'd expect from someone singing in their bedroom.

And that's actually the type of thing that you got at the Radnor and Lee concert on Saturday the 19th of May. When Sally made a mistake, instead of trying to cover it up, she completely owned it and acknowledged it. As a fellow singer myself, I loved that moment. It was real, raw and not perfect. That's the way music should be.

After Sally's set, there was a gap of about 15 minutes before Josh and Ben took to the stage. Now I was seated in the third row so I was extremely close to the stage and honestly, if the seats had been any closer then we would have been on the stage.

The other event that was on, on Saturday night was of course Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding and the people in front of me were talking about the wedding so naturally I started talking to them and one of them was dressed in a tiara, and I was wearing a sparkly dress. Hey! If you can't be at the wedding yourself, you might as well have fun, so we high fived over that. It was pretty cool, and then throughout the night discussed the dresses, but only briefly because we were there to see Radnor and Lee.

So Radnor and Lee had a basic set with just their guitars. It really felt like it was you watching your mates sing. There were of course moments when Josh and Ben talked to the crowd about various things including how Josh had only been playing guitar for a year because he was in a band (it's cool because that's actually why I'm taking up keyboard, not to be in a band, but because I'm a singer, I could never be in a band, I like the limelight too much) and about how it takes him ages to tune his guitar and when he's doing it on stage he feels pressured to hurry up. The audience didn't care though. It's really cool when you see a musician that's just honest and open.

As mentioned, the wedding was on Saturday night and you bet Radnor and Lee were going to talk about it, but it was only to introduce their latest single, Here, and they thanked fans for coming to the gig and not watching the wedding.

There were a few other songs they sung in between, including Be Like The Being, which Josh has lead vocals on, and another recent song, Ohio, which Ben leads on. They joked about Josh leading on an upcoming song called Sydney. Whether or not that's written is another thing. I may write a song about Sydney myself, which they're welcome to (so long as I get a writing credit and to actually meet them).

Later on in the set they sung a few songs that aren't on their debut album including Green Street, which Josh wrote when he was living on Green Street in New York, and You can't fire me, I Quit (which is actually about a relationship ending).

One of the best moments was when they sung Still Though We Should Dance. Anyone who has the album knows that a female singer sings most of the song, so to fill that role, Sally Seltmann returned to the stage. It wasn't perfect but that's what made it great. It sounded like a few mates just jamming.

One of the worst moments though was when someone in the crowd shouted out, "We love you Teddy Westside", to which Josh replied, "I know not what you're referring". For those who've followed Josh's career, you'd know that he wants to leave HIMYM behind and focus on his other projects; and yes, Josh and Ben, as Radnor and Lee are recording their second album next month.

Finally, the night ended with Josh and Ben going right to the front of the stage and singing, It's Yours Once You Give It Away. It was completely accoustic and they revved up the crowd.

They returned for an encore after a very short break and closed with their uplifting track, Falling Upward.

My favourite parts of the show were the banter between Josh and Ben, where they showed genuine affection for eachother. I also love that they made constant reference to the fact that this was a new venture for them. Normally people are so busy trying to be perfect. It was excellent that they weren't trying to be perfect.

Overall, I would give them a 4/5. It was a truly intimate show and given how close I was to the stage was just incredible. You don't often get that, least of all with massive stars like Josh Radnor and Ben Lee and the even better part is how truly down to earth and normal they seem. Having been a performer since I was a kid, I always tell myself that famous performers are just regular people who had a dream and made it big, while others, such as myself, are still working on it.

The only reason I don't give them a 5/5 is because they didn't do a meet and greet and outside of Prince Harry, Josh Radnor is one celeb I really really want to meet. Okay, so at the show I did make eye contact with him twice. It was pretty cool.

I highly suggest people purchase their album and I can't wait to see them when they're next in Australia. I did have a ticket to the Sydney show as well but haven't quite mastered the art of being in two places at once so I couldn't attend the show as I was still travelling back from Melbourne.

Here's a couple of snaps I took from the gig.

 Australian singer, Sally Seltmann

Josh Radnor and Ben Lee as Radnor and Lee