I was born too late to see Irving Berlin or Cole Porter or Duke Ellington or George Gershwin perform their own songs, but last night I was fortunate enough to witness another of the great American composers play and sing his own songs. And if you don’t believe Burt Bacharach’s name belongs alongside those […]
Timing is everything. Fortunately Courtney Barnett’s show at the St James ended with just enough time to make it up Queen Street to catch Sunken Seas at the Wine Cellar. The two acts made for a thrilling double bill on this Friday night in Auckland. Sunken Seas started out from Wellington, but front man […]
There were two reasons to get excited about last night’s Courtney Barnett show. Of course, there’s Barnett’s own brand of literate rock and roll…but for many, it was also returning to Auckland’s St James Theatre, a venue that holds a lot of memories for a lot of music fans. For myself, a quite a […]
The Irish musical phenomenon known as Hozier rolled into town to play one sold-out show at the Vector Arena. It’s been little over a year since Andrew Hozier-Byrne released his debut album, but already he is able to draw huge crowd thanks to the success of his hit, Take Me To Church. The question […]
This is Robbie Williams’ “Let Me Entertain You” tour. And after sitting (and standing) through his nearly two hour show at Auckland’s Vector Arena, no matter what you think of his music or his persona, one thing is certain, the man delivered on his promise. I would venture to say that every one of the […]
The Broken Heartbreakers played a warm, heartfelt set of tuneful songs, spaciously presented with subtlety and skill. The lush harmonies of Rachel Bailey and John Guy Howell were impressive, and the guitar work of the pair also very tasteful and melodic. This band has been together since 2002, and I saw them in a late […]
When Laura Marling first performed in Auckland, as part of the January 2012 Laneway Festival, she looked and sounded like a classic English folk singer, dressed in jeans and a red jumper, strumming an acoustic guitar sporting long blonde hair and backed by a band featuring banjo, mandolin and cello. For her first “proper” Auckland […]
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 […]
Another day, another 74-year old “legacy” artist is in Auckland to perform. This time it’s Joan Baez, who like Neil Diamond, who is also in town, has a wealth of material to draw from. Her performance at the Aotea Centre was a showcase for some of the finest songs ever written.
It was business as usual for Neil Diamond last night at Auckland’s Vector Arena, and that business is playing hits…lots and lots of them. With fifty years of chartbusters to draw from, Diamond had his fans singing and clapping along for well over two hours.