REVIEW: 27 Club, Amplified House, EdFringe 2025 ★★★★★

Kicking down the door, the 27 Club make a jaw-dropping return, the music we all know and love hitting the stage once again. 

Amplified House have taken over the music hall at Assembly Rooms, and they’re making good use of the space. Three head-banging musicians and four lead vocalists take on the almighty challenge of giving their all to the legacy of the infamous group of musicians who make up the 27 club. Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix, the collective of legendary performers who all lost their lives at just 27 years old. Their sound and their stories are brought back to life in this electrifying performance. 

The stage is set to bring on the vintage rock and roll atmosphere, with boho rugs and reclined chairs creating a cosy backstage feeling. The lights are dim, brimming with the potential of what is yet to come. The stillness is soon broken as, one by one, song by song, the hosts and talent of the night hit the stage, introducing the members of the 27 club as they do so with their own takes on the group’s best-known numbers. And so the show unfolds, with a setlist melting between the sound of each individual. The group shifts from genre to genre with ease, and cover a good range of well known hits with some of the more niche selections throughout. 

Between the songs, there are short moments of storytelling, paying respectful homage to the short lives that the infamous group lived. Boiling down these larger-than-life characters into a few brief sentences to keep the momentum flowing is certainly a challenging undertaking, and there will always be conflicting opinions over what to mention and what to leave out, but the loose, conversational script does a good job of capturing the essence of each artist. 

The biggest triumph of this show is the sheer quality of the sound we are treated to. Each singer is stunningly powerful in their vocal performance, delivering their own unique take on the repertoire of familiar songs. They differentiate themselves from many tribute acts by not attempting to be the people they’re drawing from, but rather taking inspiration and energy from their style and influence. The result is an organic performance which hits all the right notes for the lovers of the original songs, whilst still showing off the individuality of the people on the stage today. This is all underpinned by a phenomenal band, who each get their moment in the spotlight on their respective instrument and keep the sound booming the whole way through the night. 

The artists of the 27 club have delivered some of the most compelling and emotive music of all time, and the chance to have their sounds blended together on the stage today by such talented performers is truly special. The stage presence is monumental and effortless. The singers bring out all the rock and roll tricks through the heavier numbers, leaping off the stage and bounding up the aisle of the audience, to the point that you don’t know where to look because the energy is coming from all directions. The group easily get the audience on their feet and dancing, the music doing precisely what it was designed to do.  

For any lover of classic rock, or any music lover at all, this show encapsulates exactly what is so loved about music and delivers it with faultless care and talent. 

Recommended Drink: Whiskey on the rocks. 

Performances of 27 Club have now concluded at EdFringe 2025.