Dawes – Tuning Fork

In a different time and a different place Dawes would have been an arena-filling act with their songs saturating FM radio stations alongside the likes of Springsteen, Browne, Young and Clapton. But pop music is a fickle and impatient beast, and here in Auckland in 2015, Dawes are about the best bar band you’re gonna see.

It could have gone very wrong. The Los Angeles-based band led by singer/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith took a major hit a few weeks ago when keyboard player Tay Strathairn abruptly left the group, mid-tour. Fortunately, the band had a secret weapon in touring guitarist Duane Betts. For those of a certain age, his name may ring a bell…he’s the son of Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts and was named after that late, great Duane Allman…so that’s quite a pedigree and quite a legacy to live up to.

Duane Betts proved he is up to the challenge.

After a typically vibrant set by local faves The Bads, Dawes took the stage looking and sounding like a lean, mean guitar-slinging rock and roll machine. They opened with the bouncy From A Window, from 2013’s Stories Don’t End. The song is ostensible about listening to music while flying and this sounded like a band ready to take off.

Taylor took the first guitar solo of the night, proving he knows his way around a fretboard, and then turned it over to Duane who was sublime, turning out sweet, Southern-fried guitar licks that would make his daddy proud.

This was followed by I Can’t Think About It Now, the first of six tunes performed from the band’s excellent latest album, All Your Favorite Bands. Taylor switched to keyboards halfway through the song while Betts retreated into the corner of the stage, staring intently at his guitar, his large cowboy hat almost covering his closed eyes. But when it came time to take another solo, Betts came out blazing, stepping forward and setting off sparks on the stage.

Meanwhile the rhythm section, drummer Griffin Goldsmith (Taylor’s brother and bass player Wylie Gelber happily jammed along with Gelber’s face mimicking the notes he was playing.

The first half of the set seemed to focus on the wonderful guitar interplay between Betts and Goldsmith, but as the show proceeded, the strength of Taylor’s songwriting began to take prominence beginning with the achingly sad and beautiful Now That It’s Too Late, Maria. The song is nearly 10 minutes long and it just gets better and better and it goes, with Taylor’s singing powerful and emotive and Betts’ throwing in just the right, subtle guitar licks to help tell the story.

Songs like To Be Completely Honest, A Little Bit Of Everything and Most People sound like absolute gems…as melodic and well-written as any classic rock from the 70s.

By the time they got to their new anthem, All Your Favorite Bands, they had sealed the deal, making them, indeed, one of my favourite bands. Let’s hope they never break up, but continue to adapt and evolve as they seem to have with the addition of Duane Betts.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Flynn:

Dawes set list:

1. From A Window Seat
2. I Can’t Think About It Now
3. Things Happen
4. From The Right Angle
5. That Western Skyline
6. If I Wanted Someone
7. Somewhere Along The Way
8. Now That It’s Too Late, Maria
9. Fire Away
10. To Be Completely Honest
11. A Little Bit Of Everything
12. When My Time Comes
13. Most People
14. All Your Favorite Bands