Storm Large is the perfect cabaret artiste.  She’s big, and blond, and sexy; she has a huge voice and she knows how to use it.

From her very first words, “Don’t be scared”, to her closing notes, the audience was entirely under her spell.

Taken by Storm “is all about love”.  “It’s an exploration of the quest for love, the craziness of the quest of love and exploration of the songs that illustrate the quest for love,” she says.

She teasingly hands out autobiographical anecdotes – some funny, some a little sad – to weave the disparate songs into a cohesive 70-minute show. Storm is clearly excited by the urgency and desperation of love.

There are American songbook classics, a few pop anthems, and a couple of original tunes.  The songs may be familiar but the arrangements are all her own.

She can make Cole Porter sound edgy and thrash sound soulful, and every song just oozes emotion.  Her interpretation of the Dusty Springfield hit “If You Go Away”, sung in English and French, is just divine.

Storm’s impressive vocals were admirably backed by her four-piece band Le Bonheur (appropriately ‘Happiness’) with piano, drums, bass and guitar.

The Dunstan Playhouse is a poor choice of venue for a chanteuse whose entire being cries out for a genuine cabaret setting, but don’t be deterred.  There is only one more show, tonight at 9pm (June 12), so cancel your plans and go feel the Storm.  And make sure she gets a standing ovation!

More Adelaide Cabaret Festival stories and reviews here.