Concert Review: Larkin Poe – Tuning Fork April 26, 2019

Blues blasting sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, aka Larkin Poe, made their New Zealand performance debut to a sold out audience at Auckland’s Tuning Fork.

They seemed to come out of nowhere with the release of their latest album, Venom & Faith, but in reality they’ve been around for a while, honing their craft.

Venom & Faith is, in fact, Larkin Poe’s fourth album, and before that, along with third sister Jessica Lovell, they released two albums as The Lovell Sisters. Not a bad rap sheet for two gals who are still on the south side of thirty.

Rebecca and Megan have focussed their sound down to the blues, specifically, the darker side, inhabited by the likes of Robert Johnson, Skip James and Son House, all of whom were covered at The Tuning Fork.

But this is no blues revival act. And to prove it, the band (also featuring drummer Kevin McGowan and bass player Tarka Layman) opened the set with a stomping original, Summertime Sunset.

Rebecca kicked it off by raising her electric guitar high and bringing it down to a crashing, bruising blues riff. Meanwhile, Megan seemed to generate sparks from her lap steel, as she peeled off solos that had me thinking of the late, great Johnny Winter.

The crowd was ready to party, clapping along to Trouble In Mind and Black Betty. They were even singing along to Son House’s ancient Preachin’ Blues…very impressive.

Larkin Poe’s sound is built around the guitar playing of younger sister Rebecca and the lap steel playing of Megan, and although Rebacca handles the lead vocals, it’s when their two voices intertwine that the real magic happens, as it did during Bleach Blonde Bottle Blues.

Rebecca traded her guitar for banjo during California King and John The Revelator and Megan got to show off her chops on the lap steel during Black Echo, after which an overwhelmed fan began singing Dazed And Confused back to the band.

“Yeah, we wrote that back in 1969”, Rebecca deadpanned.

The crowd seemed to lose focus during a couple of the quieter numbers…Honey Honey and Mad As A Hatter (an unrecorded song Rebecca wrote as a teenager about her paternal grandfather who struggled with mental illness).

But once the killer riffs kicked back in, it was party time again, and the crowd was loving set closer Wanted Woman/AC/DC.

The encore featured a tribute to Robert Johnson and his Come On In My Kitchen.

Larkin Poe proved that they can generate the gut bucket blues promised in their recordings, on stage. I’m betting next time they perform in Auckland, that stage will be quite a bit bigger.

And kudos to opening act Kendall Elise who did an excellent job entertaining the expectant crowd with her brief set, prefacing the release of her debut album next week. Her Heart Full Of Dirt went over particularly well as did her haunting cover of Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Ivan Karczewski:

Larkin Poe setlist:

1. Summertime Sunset
2. Trouble In Mind
3. Black Betty
4. Bleach Blonde Bottle Blues
5. Look Away
6. Preachin’ Blues
7. Freedom
8. California King
9. John The Revelator
10. Honey Honey
11. Black Echo
12. Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues
13. Mad As A Hatter
14. Run For Your Money
15. Blue Ridge Mountains
16. Wanted Woman/AC/DC
17. Come On In My House