Mahalia Barnes Sings The Rose.
Mahalia Barnes and The Soulmates. Dunstan Playhouse. Adelaide Festival Centre. June 14 2026
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
Blues, Soul, Rock and Roll.
Mahalia Barnes conquers all. In a concert that rocked old rockers out of their
seats at the Dunstan Playhouse, Barnes stood tall, proud and loud ( and at
times I mean very loud) on the shoulders of legendary singers who had
struggled, suffered, striven and risen victorious as a voice for strong women
in a male dominated industry. Their names are synonymous with a talent so
supreme that music is glorified with their names: Middler, Joplin, Geyer,
Turner and Simone. These are the singers whose legacy Barnes celebrates in Mahalia
Barnes Sings The Rose. The first half of the show is the soundtrack of the
film The Rose that encapsulates the story of the singers who have come
from adversity, faced adversity and struggled through to triumph as an example
to aspiring artists the world over.
Backed by her band The Soulmates,
Barnes lifts the roof with her Rock and Roll opening number Sold My Soul To
Rock and Roll. With a voice that rasps from the depths of the soul to the tender
ache of the Blues, Barnes pours out her heart with classics like When A
Man Loves a Woman, Love Me With A Feeling and The Rose. From
the age of 13 Barnes has been obsessed with Stay With Me. Raw and
tearing apart the heart, the song is engraved in Barnes’s DNA. In a show that
demands one’s all, Barnes gives it and more in her tribute to all female
singers who have had to scratch a crawl their way through the quagmire of
prejudice and exploitation to let their soul soar in the lyrics and music of
their song.
What is so extraordinary as one
watches Barnes take control of the stage is the relationship with the members
of The Soulmates. She welcomes Adelaide ring-ins, Josh on Trumpet and
Jack on Saxophone as though they were part of the family. Each member is given
their moment in the spotlight with obvious affection from Barnes. The show
shines with the rapport and respect for amazing talent. Clay on keys gives a
display of virtuosic musicianship on the organ. Guitarists Ollie and Barnes’s
husband Ben share moments with Barnes as does her bass guitarist while the drummer
beats up a storm on percussion. In a show as unforgettable as the names of the
singers that Barnes pays homage to singer and musicians seduce an audience with
love, passion and the adoration of the women who have forged the way.
The second half of the programme
is dedicated to those women, their tragedy and their triumph, their struggle
and their survival and the gift they gave to music and the world. Renee Geyer’s
Mercedes Benz and Janis Joplin’s A Man’s World, Tina Turner’s I
Love You Baby, and Nina Simone’s I Put A Spell On You all recall the
addiction, the loss, the longing, the betrayal and through it all the
resilience that keeps Rolling On The River.
In a repertoire that is gutsy,
gentle and echoing with love, Mahalia Sings The Rose is a rich and
uplifting cabaret experience. The man nearby, a baby-boomer like so many
reliving their memories of their younger years cried out “I love you Mahalia!”
It was obvious that he was not alone when voices called out for more. A show
advertised at 75 minutes including an interval ran for ninety through two
encores and no interval. With a flourishing finale Barnes had her audience
dancing in the aisles to Tina Turner’s Rolling on the River. And the
spirit of Barnes’s show kept rolling on.
Photographer: Claudio Raschella
