Concert Review: Mice on Stilts – Wine Cellar, June 14, 2019

0

Auckland six-piece band, Mice on Stilts, performed a deeply moving and poetic set at Wine Cellar last night, gracefully combining the rich history of Aotearoa with an unrivalled level of lyrical intimacy.

Opening for Mice on Stilts, those arriving early at Wine Cellar were treated to a remarkable set by Gitbox Rebellion, with the attending six of the 10-piece acoustic-guitar group taking less than a minute to find their groove, flooring the growing crowd with a conversational note-passing in Circulation led by Nigel Gavin.

Exploring a varied range of musical styles and making full use of their acoustic guitars’ capabilities, the set combined the influences of Mike Oldfield’s layered masterpiece, Tubular Bells, the gypsy-jazz of Django Reinhardt, and closed with a remarkable cover of Ennio Morricone’s The Good The Bad and The Ugly main theme.

Second support act, king of the sadboys, refocused the sound of the gig toward the layered folk of Stilts through lead guitarist and vocalist, Sam Ogilvie. Performing a set covering much of the band’s EP, soft drugs, the earnest depth of Ogilvie and the delicate, measured keys of brother, Hamish Ogilvie, evoked the tragic talent of the late Elliott Smith.

With the venue comfortably filled, Mice on Stilts took to the stage, with frontman Benjamin Morley immediately engaging the crowd with a casual, authentic welcome. The grand, orchestral procession of Orca bled into the haunting keys and intense crescendo of Binocular Bath, before Morley expressed his immense gratitude for the crowd’s presence.

As both a songwriter and a vocalist, Morley possesses an almost unnatural talent at directing every word into your soul, a gift he has shown since Stilts’ early EP release, An Ocean Held Me, and one that has only matured in the years since. It would be an easy understatement to compare his voice to the late Jeff Buckley, or Thom Yorke, where a phenomenal voice is coupled with the rarity of an individual fearlessly embracing its power.

Morley is fully aware of the power in his voice, yet remains painfully humble when speaking about his talent or music. His manner on stage – conducting the flow and rhythm of the band with an inherent, intuitive knowledge – shows a musician so clearly tapping the most sacred and unreachable parts of his soul that at times, the collective sound of Stilts becomes emotionally overwhelming.

But Stilts play music for the broken soul, to soothe and comfort the audience rather than deflate them, and this balance is exactly the reason their music has such unfathomable depth – both Stilts as a band and Morley as a musician have shown remarkable growth throughout their musical history, pushing their lyrics and sound to an achingly raw, dark, and often confronting place.

This iteration of Stilts continues to weave an immense respect and appreciation for Aotearoa and its history throughout their songs, bravely exploring themes and issues that are so very rarely discussed in a local setting, and performed with a vulnerability in Morley’s haunting and seraphic voice that provided last night’s crowd with a lingering sense of comfort and closeness.

Oxford Lamoureaux

Photos by Milan Healey-Furniss

Mice on Stilts 2019 Lineup:

Guy Harrison – Piano

Rob Sanders – Drums

Tim Shacklock – Bass / Cello

Sam Loveridge – Violin / Guitar

Charlie Isdale – Violin / Sax

Benjamin Morley – Guitar / Vocals

Mice on Stilts Setlist:

Orca / Binocular Bath

Hope for a Mourning

Ka Kite / National Radio

Wahine

Edge of the Garden

Tuatara Lawn

 

Oxford Lamoureaux
Latest posts by Oxford Lamoureaux (see all)