"GOOD evening ladies and genitals."
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It's unlikely a Lizotte's audience has ever been greeted in such a manner before. But Lizotte's is also unlikely to have experienced an artist quite like Wanita.
Wanita is the self-declared "Australian queen of honky tonk", and who would dare dispute it?
After decades living and performing in Tamworth without receiving the conservative Australian country music industry's tick of approval - despite her obvious talent - Wanita may be finally having her deserved time in the spotlight.
Newcastle filmmaker Matthew Walker's recent documentary, I'm Wanita, about the country renegade's life and dream of recording an album in Nashville, has been met with glowing reviews and awards for Best Australian Documentary at the 2021 Sydney Film Festival and Best Music Documentary at Britain's 2021 Raindance Festival.
While Wanita's erratic behaviour and bizarre lifestyle make for enthralling viewing on film, the question going into Thursday night's I'm Wanita album launch at Lizotte's was could "the Queen" bring it together on stage?
You could never describe Wanita as boring. She was thoroughly entertaining. During her 90-minute set she flung open the doors to her crazy honky tonk world and invited the intimate audience in.
She and her band had only rehearsed together for the first time that afternoon, and barring a few key change instructions, the six-piece managed to hold things together with a flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of energy. It was loose, but never sloppy.
The band included Newcastle musician and comedian Eddy Tolhurst, aka Eddy Rockefeller, on fiddle.
Everything from Wanita's expletive-riddled tales about almost coming to blows with country legend Allan Caswell during a songwriting session and jokes about penises endeared her to the small audience.
But of course, the ocker humour, Loretta Lynn-stylings, and animated stage presence would tire quickly if Wanita didn't have serious musical talent.
While Lynn and Patsy Cline are obvious influences, Wanita's vocals on her rowdier numbers sat more closely to the shredding velocity of Janis Joplin.
The set was dominated by her 2021 album I'm Wanita - the record she went to the US to make in the film.
He Takes Good Care Of Me (dedicated to her Turkish husband Baba, who took his own life in 2020), Rhinestone In The Rough and the playful ragtime piano-driven Don't You Hate That were the highlights.
Wanita's honky tonk sound is clearly welded to the classic '50s and '60s era and her appreciation and knowledge of the genre is evident.
"My life is all about pissing and f--king it up, but with integrity," Wanita said on stage.
It's that integrity and commitment to the music which saved Wanita's performance from descending into a honky tonk caricature.
Not many entertainers can get away with singing self-referential lines like, "I'm Wanita, your rocking, swinging, honky tonk queen."
But Wanita not only can, she can make you believe it.