Arts

Cabaret Festival Review: Hard Rain: The songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen

A renowned interpreter of Dylan, for this tour, Barb Jungr has specifically chosen “the P songs”: philosophical and political, by both Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

Presented by Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed 12 June 2016

Barb Jungr exploded onto the Space stage with her powerhouse version of Dylan’s It’s Alright Ma, and had the audience enraptured from about the third bar. She is a singer who combines technical perfection with ballsy passion; it’s as if Edith Piaf and Nick Cave had a love-child, who was adopted by Carmen McRae.

A renowned interpreter of Dylan, for this tour, she has specifically chosen “the P songs”: philosophical and political, by both Dylan and Cohen. So it’s not the most cheerful of sets! However, Jungr lightens the mood with her funny, sexy banter, and allows us to feel the good, the bad and the ugly.

Working through such numbers as First We Take Manhattan, Masters of War, Hard Rain and 1000 Kisses Deep, Jungr presented us with some of the most complex and dark lyrics, written by these two exemplars of the singer-songwriter genre. Particularly moving was her controlled, intense version of Cohen’s Who By Fire.

This show is a master-class in cabaret, in singing and in the art of reaching an audience.

Judging by the queue of adoring fans in the foyer afterwards, Adelaide will call Jungr back for more.

I, for one, will be there.

Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten

Rating (out of 5): 5

Venue: Space Theatre
Season: 12th-13th June
Duration: 75 minutes
Tickets: $34.90 – $49.90
Bookings: Book online through the Adelaide Cabaret Festival website or phone BASS on 131 246
www.barbjungr.com

 

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