Live Review: True Confessions Revisited - The Bob Dylan & Tom Petty Show

Australian singer Jeff Jenkins and his DYLANesque tribute show was a feature of the 2018 Adelaide Fringe and made a welcome return to the Garden of Unearthly Delights in 2019. This year’s show had a different focus, being a flashback to Bob Dylan’s 1986 True Confessions tour, where Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Stevie Nicks performed the role of backing band to the musical legend.

This Adelaide Fringe show was a fitting tribute to two icons, given that in the past 18 months Dylan himself passed through town and Tom Petty passed away. While Jenkins’ previous show was a deep dive into the life and times (and music) of Dylan, this was a rapid-fire succession of hits from both artists, with stories told in between.

First up was the works of Petty, including faithful renditions of Runnin' Down A Dream and Refugee. The start of the show was let down by the guitar volume being way too low and those vital guitar riffs not quite having their full impact, until American Girl and Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, which finally hit the mark. The latter also featured singer Naree Newman, who did a great job of replicating Stevie Nicks’ sultry tones.

In addition to the musical interpretations, it was the stories behind the songs that made this such an interesting show. A very brief intermission allowed Jenkins to change out of his paisley shirt (and Petty’s signature top hat) into a plain T-shirt and leather vest for the Dylan portion of the show.

Returning solo with just an acoustic guitar, harmonica and nasally voice, it was straight into the folk hits The Times They Are A-Changin’ and Blowin' In The Wind. Despite a false start for the latter, Jenkins quickly hit his stride and for the rest of the show continued to engage us with anecdotes.

The full band version of Masters Of War was done True Confessions-style (Judas!), while most other songs were largely faithful to the originals (although All Along The Watchtower was given a brilliant Jimi Hendrix treatment).

A show of hands revealed that a number of those in the audience had been to the Memorial Drive concert in Adelaide back in 1986 (lucky devils), and, before we knew it, the 80-minute show was over, leaving us hungry for more. Hopefully Jenkins and co will continue touring this very professional and entertaining show.