The Spooky Men's Chorale by The Spooky Men's Chorale

The Spooky Men’s Chorale is a vast, rumbling, steam-powered and black-clad behemoth, seemingly capable of rendering audiences moist eyed with mute appreciation or haplessly gurgling with merriment. Based on the twin pillars of grand foolishness and the quest for the perfect boofchord, the Spooky Men seek to commentate on the absurdity and grandeur of the modern male armed only with their voices, a sly collection of hats and facial hair, and a twinkle in the eye.

Formed in the Blue Mountains of NSW in 2001 by Christchurch born spookmeister Stephen Taberner, the Spooky Men soon attracted attention with a judicious combination of Georgian table songs, pindrop beautiful ballads, highly inappropriate covers, and immaculate man anthems like “Don’t stand between a man and his tool.”

Since their first appearance at the National Folk Festival in Canberra in 2004, the Spooky Men have performed over 750 gigs in diverse festivals and venues across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and in Germany and Denmark, including Woodford, WOMAD (Adelaide and NZ), Edinburgh Fringe, and Tonder (Denmark).

The Spooky Men’s Chorale have recorded seven CDs: Tooled Up (2004), Stop Scratching It (2007), Deep (2009), Big (2011), The Spooky Man in History (2013), Warm (2015), and Welcome to the Second Half (2019).

Through an evening of drop deadpan beautiful mansinging, the Spooky Men invite the audience to ponder the conundrums of modern life and manhood, joyously experience a wall of mansound, laugh stupidly, and venture into areas of great tenderness. It is not so much comedic as hilarious, not so much shimmeringly perfect as pleasingly and deeply human.

Touring window: June
Fee: $3, 300 + $500 for technical equipment + GST + 4% royalties
Ideal for: Adults, families with teenage children, music fans, choir fans, Monty Python fans.