Don West has the Corner Hotel Hot & Bothered

 

Don West performing at the Corner Hotel - Photographer: Owen Gonsalves

   Riddle me this: where can you find a pack of Soul music lovers leaping for a sweat-soaked towel, “the Horny Boys” (hear me out!), and grooves so good that it leaves hundreds leaving with knees weak, hair ruffled, and feeling a lot warmer than when they arrived? If you said, at Eora/Sydney-based heart-throb, DON WEST's sold-out headline show live at The Corner Hotel, then congratulations, you know ball! Still reeling from the success of his 2025 debut album, Give Me All Your Love, The Don and his 9-piece band rolled through Naarm/Melbourne’s Band Room as part of his Aus Summer Tour, complimented by exceptional outings as on the lineup of the regional Spilt Milk festival.  

      

2025 has treated DON WEST extremely well. Aside from the Spilt Milk nod and the success of both his debut self-titled EP and full-length album, the Soul troubadour also took his Motown-inspired sound across Europe. With those accomplishments, devilish good looks, and a sense of style plucked from yesteryear, it wouldn’t be farfetched to wonder if the man is even human — but alas, the unfortunate scrapping of a US tour, set for October (due to illness) tells us that even Don has his day. That hasn’t put a damper on him, and more importantly, it hasn’t soured his Australian audiences at all as the packed house in this mid-week soul spectacular found out. With the Naarm crowd sufficiently warmed up, thanks to synchronised 60s-inspired twins, Surely Shirley, who had the older members of the crowd swaying in reminiscence of the likes of The Ronettes, The Mamas & Papas and The Beach Boys, it was time for the nostalgia to kick into the next gear. 

 

For frequent attendees of a DON WEST live show, you’ll know that the man likes a grand entrance – but the most obvious note, as his band plays him onto the stage, is that he’s larger than life, not just physically, but in star-power as well. Draped in washes of deep blue denim that hug his physique, and framed by his signature dark shades, the Don is beloved from the moment his boot hits the stage. The room feels like a celebration as he smirks at a few to the left, and points to a few to the right, before the stuttering drum beat of Friends kicks the night off. Like a Sydney sunset, hues of orange and purple shower the big band and the front row as the room collectively sinks into the beat of the third single from his self-titled EP. In songs like this, you see the feeling and the vocals pour out of Don’s body. The sonics live and breathe within him, coursing through his body as he rhythmically writhes on his stage, never out of time, never in doubt, always in control. With no real choreography, dedicated to his songs (yet), it allows for his faithful audience to catch a glimpse of just how much Don loves performing soul music. It’s a sublime selection for an opening track that speaks to the self-awareness of the group. The show is sold out, but if it wasn’t, a straggler with some spare change sitting at the bar could stumble into the bandroom, and they’d know what they’d be in for from song one. 

 

The same could be said for Give Me All Your Love which, sandwiched between two smooth unreleased tracks entitled If I Had You and Sex, brings the pace down but still justifies its position as the title track of the debut album. It epitomises Don’s sultry, ‘slow jam’ sound, a contrast of the thumping Motown beat that he’s become equally as known for. His performance of the song is the embodiment of whispering sweet nothings into the ear of a lover, and the lover tonight is the swaying room, who collectively lend him their ears like he’s Mark Antony. 

 

After Sex, the band powers through features from the album like So High and Day To Night before the set takes the scenic route to the record’s focus track and fan-favourite, Send It Back. What type of scenic route? Perhaps a French country town known for its old chapel where the hymns can be heard all through its cobblestone-laid streets? There’s almost a gospel choir-like element to the extended instrumental that builds and builds with the help of its denim-adorned maestro. Don isn’t afraid to improvise, using a basic vibe check to build the room up while showcasing his impressive vocal runs before spiralling into the song in a triumphant nature. It’s clear the big single out of the album is beloved amongst Don’s people as the room bounces along and loosens up a little, hands flying in the air. 

 

Pivotal to the excellence of the set is the band’s ability to flex their chemistry, and Don never fails to credit them. When chatting with SYN’s Soul Food presenter, Osker Morieson, who was there live, he says the band holds ‘an immaculate chemistry between them, [and he] could feel the aura emanating big time’. While Don routinely refers to his right-hand man, co-writer and guitarist, Kesmar throughout the show, the highlight of the set comes after Did You Have To Go when the band clears off stage, leaving just the pianist/synth player and Don. It makes room for a solo moment, a place for vulnerability as the synth whines as Don carefully and intentionally pours himself out into a stripped-back, slowed down version of Rather Be Lonely. Forgoing the necessity for high-end production in an artist’s work, you’d be silly to not think that this is how the song was always meant to sound in the first place. It brings the vibrance in the room to a hush and curtails even the slightest hint of monotony in the set by adding a layer of welcomed emotion. Partners cuddle up together, mates wrap an arm around each other and those on their own lose themselves in the presence of the man of the moment. As the song creeps to its end, the Band Room erupts, showering Don West with deserved adulation. 

 

And in true Don West fashion, he’s quick to divert that attention by calling back… ahem… ‘the Horny Boys’. And by that, he naturally means the brass section of his band –  but that doesn’t stop intrusive thoughts from flying out as a member of the audience yelps back, ‘Yes please!’ with a little too much enthusiasm. A moment of laughter filters through before Don calmly assures the Horny Boys’ number one fan (apparently) that they could only be so lucky. Before there’s space for a retort, the drones of the horn section lead us into the slow jam off the debut album, Dreamin’ for a woozy, sexy rendition of the tune, with that same cradling and care for the song that the last one was handled with. A nice rest for the audience, who by this point had started to grow a little rowdy, all in good fun, but the stripped-back section of the set would soon make way for the victory lap. The band returns as Never Love brings the pace back up and causes the air conditioning in the room to work overtime as the heat increases a few notches. 

 

By this point, the band can do no wrong, evident by the hands that go up when the suave Sydney soul man calls upon anyone named Julia, which of course, welcomes in the single with the same name. The concept of time has dissipated as the 75-minute set flies by, never once feeling rushed, not a single song out of place. It leads us nicely into What Turns You On from the self-titled EP, which allows for Don to get amongst his people, moving from person to person to assist him in the lengthy rally of ‘baaa-bay’ akin to Bill Withers’ ‘I know, I know, I know…’ on Ain’t No Sunshine. This wouldn’t be the only nod to the great man. He’s got the Corner Hotel in time and rhythm with him as the band play him off stage like they did for his entrance – but of course, as is tradition, an encore is on the way. Not before a quick sip and a freshen up though as the Don returns back on stage with a brew and a towel to wipe himself down with, before launching said towel into the sea of people. To close out the show, the band moves into a special rendition of Bill’s Heartbreak Road, once again reminding the audience that this isn’t just a brand or a gimmick, but a passion and love. Don makes the song his own, splicing in those runs from earlier to make sure you know it’s his version. 

 

There’s only one way to end the night. The successful European tour, the run of festival features, the sold out crowds everywhere they go, they can all be attributed to a variety of factors – but they all lead back to 2024 breakout single, Small Change. An upbeat, funky jive of a tune is the perfect high to hit as the band slam through the single, much to the jubilation of the Corner Hotel. When Don runs through the band credits, and blows his faithful crowd a kiss goodbye before sinking back into the depths of the Band Room, the murmurs and whispers of ‘five stars, 10/10, a classic…’ can be heard amongst parallel conversations of ‘I need to have a sit down…’, but in both conversations, it’s clear that the Don? The Don is the talk of the town.