As You Do, On a Balmy Tuesday Evening

Sign of Four wow the crowd!

Bet you can’t remember the last time you sang along to The Police with a string quartet in your neighbourhood.

Many thanks to Ginny and Greg for letting us occupy their beautiful lounge room this fair night. That’s right. Lounge room! A remarkable converted premises that now accommodates a domicile on King William Street in South Fremantle. Perfect size and packed to the rafters! Apparently the place was used to manufacture shipping nets once upon a time and now it’s filled with art and groovy green chairs from Terrace Greenhouse this night.

A hot night, albeit.

Where’s the bar? I ask, feigning indifference on a 32 degree evening.

None. BYO. And clearly stated on the ticket I skim-read.

Whoops. So I skittered across the road, explained my predicament at The Local, and got a reasonable price on their house bubbles. Woof. Didn’t realise a liquid could be this dry. But it’s important to keep hydrated. Tick. Back in my seat and to the music.

Our musicians tonight comprise of Jude Iddison on violin and exceptional event coordination, Shenzo Gregorio on his purple chromatic octave viola, Daniel Dreiberg on violin and mandolin, his bro Joel on percussion, and Mardae Selepak on guitar.

Sign of Four (who numbered five on this rare occasion) are cleverly named after 1890 novel The Sign of Four, the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes by Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As they describe themselves:

Sign of Four are a genre-blurring string quartet pushing the edges of folk, classical, and jazz. With mandolin, guitar, octave viola, violin, and lush vocals, they reimagine everything from Piazzolla to Sting with flair, fire, and finesse. Formed in 2022, their ever-shifting sets feature bold improvisation, intricate textures, and mad-scientist invention. With deep classical chops and global grooves, they’re as comfortable in concert halls as living rooms, pulling strings and expectations in thrilling, unexpected directions.

It’s one heck of an octave viola, hailing from the Eastern States, just like Shenzo.

The sound is utterly unique and fits the spirit of this group nicely.

The audience enjoyed being spirited away indeed. An enchanting romp around the globe to Europe and India then circled right back to Australia, travelling “on the open road” with a guest sailor turned musician who won us all over.

What a night in South Freo!