The Darwin-based Flanagan, who is of Indigenous Australian, Irish and Italian descent, has an increasing national profile as a singer-songwriter in her own right, and is also known as a member of the internationally-acclaimed Black Arm Band. Already this year she has performed at a number of high-profile festivals including Woodford Folk Festival, WOMADelaide, Blue Mountains Music Festival, Ten Days on the Island and Byron Bay Bluesfest.
Musically, Midnight Muses: It Begins to Tell is wonderful. On a cold night in Adelaide, the warmth of Flanagan’s voice takes us momentarily to a tropical beach at sunset; she achieves a gorgeous vocal depth and richness. The performance by Flanagan on vocals/ukulele and her band (Melanie Robinson on cello, Jamie Blechynden on guitar, Matt Earl on drums, Tom Jones on double bass and Brian Manning on keyboards) is slickly rehearsed and faultless, never missing a beat.
Coming to a performance billed as ‘cabaret’, though, I expected something a little more than just great live music. I wanted to hear a story unfold and to feel a genuine connection with the performers, and this is where the show has room to develop and grow.
Flanagan tells us that most of the songs in Midnight Muses: It Begins to Tell are adapted from the poems of a friend of hers, poet Samuel Wagan Watson, and Flanagan approaches these adaptations in both song and spoken word. The lyrical imagery in some songs is captivating, evoking such characters as an elderly, ex-boxing champ reminiscing on his glory days. I found myself wanting to hear more about these people, hoping that they would take shape, but they stayed teasingly fragmentary.
I wanted also to feel that I’d gotten to know Flanagan a little over the course of the show, but as a person and performer she remained elusive. Despite a skilful, charismatic performance, Flanagan’s interaction onstage with the band and with the audience was circumspect; and at 50 minutes the show felt like a brief glimpse of this talented artist’s capabilities.
Leah Flanagan – Midnight Muses: It Begins to Tell
Space Theatre
June 15 – 16
Adelaide Cabaret Festival
June 10 – 25
