Many singers of French chanson in Australia give a little explanation of the song they are about to perform to enable non-francophone ears to understand the context of the song. John Waters takes this one step further giving a brief but accurate translation of some of the words he is about to perform.
For the unfamiliar, Jacques Brel was a man from an average Flemish family in Northern Belgium. He escaped that life for Paris where he wrote songs of life, love and loss. He experienced great success during his career and is known widely as one of the greatest francophone songwriters and singers.
Chansons de Jacques Brel is not an entirely new show but has been downsized and made more intimate for the Adelaide Fringe setting. It was first performed in Adelaide at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2010, the same year the album was released.
French is a difficult language for English speakers to master, in particular the pronunciation of the letter “R”. John Waters sung his Rs flawlessly with no indication that he was not a native French speaker. Waters captivates with his expressive hand movements and his impassioned voice which lends itself perfectly to the moody tones of Jacques Brel. For an hour, we escaped the craziness of the Adelaide Fringe and stepped into a small French concert hall to be enchanted by the music of Jacques Brel.
Chansons de Jacques Brel featured the songs Brel was best known for including “Le Plat Pays”, “Ne me quitte pas”, “La chanson des vieux amants” and “Amsterdam” as well as some lesser-known songs like “Au suivant”, “Mathilde” and “Marieke”.
I’d have liked John Waters to have perhaps enlightened the audience a little with why he chose to not only perform Brel’s songs but to record an album of them (which is available for purchase after the show). Luckily though, you can find the answer to that in our interview with John Waters here.
On stage with John Waters was long-time collaborator Stewart d’Arietta who jumped between piano and keyboard, bass player Tony Mitchell, and Michael Kluger who impressed on accordion. Unfortunately, the sound at The Garage International (the cathedral tucked behind Adelaide Town Hall between Pirie and Flinders Streets) did not do justice to Friday night’s performance. At times, the piano was drumming out Waters’ singing and at other times Waters was muffled, through no fault of his own.
Overall, though, this was a stellar performance by John Waters bringing new life to Jacques Brel’s timeless chansons. There’s only one performance left this Adelaide Fringe, today at 5:50pm. Don’t miss it!
🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐
5 CROISSANTS
Matilda Marseillaise was a guest of Adelaide Fringe
Set list:
Chanson de Jacky
La chanson des vieux amants
Au suivant
Le Plat Pays
Ne me quitte pas
Mathilde
Mon enfance
Marieke
J’arrive
Quand on n’a que l’amour
KEY INFO FOR CHANSONS DE JACQUES BREL
WHAT : Chansons de Jacques Brel, sung by John Waters
WHERE : The Garage International, behind Adelaide Town Hall, access from Flinders and Pirie Streets
WHEN: Today, Sunday 27 February 5:50pm
HOW: Buy your tickets via the Fringetix website: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/chansons-de-jacques-brel-af2022
HOW MUCH: $59 or $55 if you hold a concession card
What’s your favourite Jacques Brel song?
