Concert Review: Shakey Graves – Powerstation April 24, 2019
Alejandro Rose-Garcia, aka Shakey Graves, has made the move from the Tuning Fork to the Powerstation, and his very vocal fans have followed him there.
Ol’ Shakey is an interesting phenomenon…an Americana artist (from Texas) who attracts a young audience, particularly female.
Indeed, this is the second concert in a week where I heard a female fan shout, “Take your shirt off!”.
When he heard it, Rose-Garcia just chuckled to himself and carried on, though he did lose his shirt later in the set (he was wearing another underneath).
With a strict curfew in place, Alejandro was anxious to get out on stage and so, he actually started a few minutes early.
He performed the first four songs solo, although the drum kit and multiple guitars behind him promised there would soon be a band in place.
From the get-go, Rose-Garcia was in a playful mood, and it was clear from the whoops and howls that the audience came to party.
That seemed to fit Shakey’s plan just fine as the crowd clapped along to the first tune, Word Of Mouth.
He remained extremely engaged with the crowd all night, telling us that he ran into some people at a shop down the street, who requested Stereotypes Of A Blue Collar Male. Despite not having played it in a while, he gave it a go, pointing out the giddy fans in the audience along the way.
During Cops And Robbers, the crowd seemed to get a little restless, talking among themselves in the middle of the tune, but by the end of the song, Alejandro reined them back in with his bluesy guitar picking, getting them to clap along.
Roll The Bones ended with a shriek of feedback that continued while Rose-Garcia donned an electric guitar, with which he generated more noise and the band members (drummer Chris “Boo” Boosahda, guitarist Pat O’Connor and bass player Jon Shaw) took their places on stage and launched into The Perfect Parts.
This was a performance that showed off two sides to Shakey Graves, the artist. One minute he was singing intense lyrics such as, “Well your lies will burn in alcohol to sterilize the perfect parts”, and then suddenly he’s leading a singalong, screaming, “da da da, da da da!”.
The band eventually conjured up a hazy psychedelic stew during Mansion Door that transitioned to Big Bad Wolf and then into Nirvana’s Something In The Way, before giving away to a shimmering Counting Sheep.
Very impressive.
O’Connor’s slide guitar added a nice shade to Dining Alone and by Dearly Departed, the crowd was singing at the top of their lungs.
As the band left the stage, Alejandro shouted, “Auckland, what up!!”, clearly thrilled with his reception. He then left us with one last song, performed solo, Late July.
This is a man who knows his audience, and his audience loves him.
Marty Duda
Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Veronica McLaughlin:
Shakey Graves set list:
- Word Of Mouth
- Stereotypes Of A Blue Collar Man
- Cops And Robbers
- Roll The Bones
- The Perfect Parts
- Pansy Waltz
- Mansion Door
- Big Bad Wolf
- Something In The Way
- Counting Sheep
- Dining Alone
- Family And Genus
- Dearly Departed
- Late July
