Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To take the entertainment and skill of the cabaret lounge and place under the intense microscope of the unsuspecting eyes of Liverpool Cavern Club patrons may seem an unlikely success, but for musician Dawn Oberg, the combination of upbeat performance and hard-hitting lyrics is one that anybody finding themselves in the company of the artist, could not fail to like, admire and wish she was in Britain more often than her native home in the United States of America.

It is hardly surprising that Dawn Oberg catches the ear, the dedication to the keyboard is positive and rings out across the front stage of The Cavern Club, the searing words light fires of wit under the feet of locals and visitors alike and above all, the seriousness of the subject matter goes hand in hand with the pearls of wisdom, of crucial respect to the listener and distrust to those who warrant barbed and cynical derision. It may be easy in some quarters to be cynical, but when someone is as insightful as Ms. Oberg, the truth must be played with precision and the words must dance in the open.

A lengthy set for the patrons who made their way to The Cavern on an early Friday afternoon, yet one that sticks in the mind and holds the attention, not least for the disdain she holds current incumbents of important offices in her homeland but also for the flair in which she played the songs; a cabaret in all but scale, an act of warmth for the listener and welcoming to those with an ear for the slick passionate but very human natural feel.

In songs such as Old Hussies, Idiot, To That Extent, Angel Rant, Reconstruction, Whiskey Priest and Orange, Ms. Oberg tantalises and sharpens the mind to accept what we know to be true, that cabaret in any form is there to delve beyond the comfortable, and whilst the music played might be seen as provocative, challenging to certain sense of belief within established political thought and dogma, it is absolutely necessary to our wellbeing as the 99 percent to continue to demonstrate it at every possible opportunity.

A marvellous set, buoyant, confrontational and one that sought out a truth to which is often hidden in our grasp, Dawn Oberg took the early afternoon Cavern show by the scruff of its neck and didn’t relent once; genius!

Ian D. Hall