The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) are smoking guns and if you throw Ben Lee and a bag of pop songs into the mix it did make for an interesting night’s entertainment.

There is no doubt that working with a Symphony Orchestra is one of the biggest challenges in music – having someone else interpret and rearrange what was originally conceived – but Lee’s music lent itself to that well. I was pleasantly surprised with how good the show was and the first set flew past to the intermission, which “happens in adult shows”.

Brett Kelly is one of Australia’s leading resident conductors who did a splendid job keeping everything in check starting out with Overture To A Cloudless Nigh. The set featured old and new right from the new album The Rebirth Of Venus delving through the back catalogue as far as Breathing Tornados.

Even if you didn’t know the songs there were plenty of catchy choruses to join in with especially with the likes of Catch My Disease that closed the night. Other highlights included Gamble Everything For Love, Tornados, Nothing Much Happens, Something Borrowed Something Blue and Love Me Like The World Is Ending.

Chances to see shows like this don’t come up often and it’s to bad if you missed it.