Concert Review: Chrissie Hart – Back Beat May 11, 2019

She’s sung other people’s songs on cruise ships in the Caribbean and 5-star hotels in China, now Chrissie Hart sings her own songs at Auckland’s Back Beat Bar.

Despite having spent many nights entertaining tourists on a luxury liner or drunken businessmen in fancy hotels, Chrissie Hart was still feeling a bit nervous as she faced a friendly crowd at the intimate Back Beat Bar on K Rd.

The reason for her fear? Instead of performing crowd pleasing covers, now she was serving up her own songs.

Having given up the overseas grind for a job back home as a music teacher, Chrissie has just released her first EP. A four-song affair titled No Birthday.

So, shortly after 9pm, Chrissie Hart approached the stage, sat at the upright piano, forcing her to have her back to the audience, and sang.

The song, Sit & Wait, isn’t on the EP, but its lyric, “I’m only human”, succinctly sums up what lies behind her songs. This is the music of someone trying to make her way through life, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but overall, doing her best.

“Hi”, she said to the audience, turning around to face them. She admitted how scared she was, a move that only put the crowd more on her side.

Still alone at the piano she performed Blue Sky, inspired by the smog-filled skies of China before “picking it up a bit” with White Girl Whining.

Pick it up, it did!

The song details the trials and tribulations of a typical middle class, middle aged, single white female, “born on Auckland’s North Shore”. And the self-deprecating lyrics are totally hilarious.

The singer lists her daily troubles…”Boys never text me back, jeans make my ass look fat”, and the most devastating…”I tried to make some tea but I’m out of milk”.

I felt like I was hearing a female version of Ben Folds when he was at his best.

From there Hart brought out her band…drummer Hannah de Koster, bassist Jo Shum and Joel Vinsen on guitar. Chrissie herself turned around to play electric piano.

She wisely continued in the same vein with Your Majesty, a song about “trying to be perfect”. Hannah laid down a funky drum beat…she was quite a revelation as a drummer, actually…while Hart donned a paper crown, worn upside down.

Chrissie combined her experience both as a piano player for hire and a teacher with her between song banter, handing out chocolate lollies…”I’m a teacher so I always have prizes on me”…while asking trivia questions of her audience…and scolding them if they answered out of turn.

Hart continued with GPS, another tune from the EP, about “the quest for romance”.

Then more prize-giving and more fine singing and playing from Hart and her band.

Shum laid down a slippery bass line for Whole, while Vinsen whipped out a dissonant solo during the otherwise breezy Suit And Tie.

Chrissie herself showed off her rapping skills on Time Has Passed, a new breakup song.

“That’s right, I just rapped!” she exclaimed proudly.

In just under an hour we were treated to ten original songs that were consistently engaging both musically and lyrically. And topped off with Chrissie’s endearing stage presence…a winning combination!

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Veronica McLaughlin:

 

Chrissie Hart set list:

1. Sit & Wait
2. Blue Sky
3. White Girl Whining
4. Your Majesty
5. GPS
6. Whole
7. Time Has Passed
8. Stone
9. Suit And Tie
10. Carousels