Dimmer – Powerstation: December 2, 2023 (Concert Review)

20 years after their most popular record, Dimmer are back, bigger and brighter than before. Original members James Duncan on bass and guitar and Gary Sullivan on drums and of course with the illustrious Shayne P. Carter at the helm, are all still there.

In addition, we are treated to 3 more band members, Louisa Nicklin on guitar and vocals, Neive Strang, vocals and percussion and Durham Fenwick on keyboard and electronics. Some of us have waited a long time to see a live performance by Dimmer, but we’re going to have to wait a little longer.

Te Kaahu

First up, in support, is Te Kaahu, named for The Hawk, showcasing their album, Te Kaahu O Rangi, the winner of Best Independent Debut for 2022. Produced by multi-instrumentalist Jol Mulholland who also plays in the band, Te Kaahu has spent the past year recording in L.A. and performing at indigenous folk festivals in Canada, and this year singer, songwriter and frontwoman for the band, Em Haley-Walker, is spending her time in Wellington as the Mahi Toi Artist in Residence at Massey University. Completing the four-piece is Emma Johnathan (vocals) and Holly (last name not stated or discoverable despite thorough Googling – on bass and guitar).

Em, aka Theia sings (in perfect pitch no less) entirely in Te Reo, at least until the National coalition erases it. She has an ethereal, breathy voice, that is the star of the show. Opening with an a cappella waiata reminiscent of the first call in a pōwhiri, the sound is paired down. Feature songs have the guitar mic’d up, but acoustic, and with reverb added, the echo is sweet and haunting.

The feel is gentle and calming like a lullaby, seeking peace and sharing knowledge. Theia explains each waiata in poetic terms. “Our loved ones, though they pass away and are on the other side, are never too far away from us.”

Mullholland plays the slide steel guitar, which to western ears sounds like the first twangs of country music, but the instrument can trace its origins back to Hawaii and is therefore in perfect alignment with the celebration of indigenous music that give Te Kaahui its sensibilities.

The smoke machine and spotlights add drama as beautiful, graceful lyrics wash over us, the layered vocals are pretty and calming, but you can’t dance to it. This is the te reo of waiata on the Marae, don’t come along expecting Alien Weaponry.

There’s meaning in each song and you can tell that Theia takes her whakapapa seriously. Her mana strides before her, respecting her ancestors before her and empowering those that come after.

This is the delicate, atmospheric music both soul-stirring and emotive that I want to listen to on a Sunday morning after the concert, curled up in the sun, with bird song in the background while nursing a hangover – you should buy their album for this very purpose.  Theia thanks the audience and Dimmer, giving respect to the opportunity and those listening before taking her leave.

Dimmer

There’s a break while the stagehands in kabuki black set up Dimmer’s instruments. I count no less than 6 stringed instruments and a saxophone. It’s a while of fiddling around to set up so much gear, but the crowd, waiting in anticipation is excited when Shayne P. Carter, who I would rank as one of the best lyricists and musicians New Zealand has ever produced, takes the stage. Despite his brilliance, Carter has an unassuming demeanor. Like the rest of the band, he’s dressed in black, now sporting short back and sides, rather than the mullet of his youth that’s now popular again.

Dimmer starts with heart stopping percussion, building up layer by layer, the discordant background in harmony with melodic notes that are a feature of Carter’s musical themes. The sound of brushes on snare falls away, leaving a few lonely lingering notes on the guitar. Loud then quiet, a hallmark of Carter’s sound. The Shoegaze element from Dunedin that has helped define Flying Nun’s sound and that is quintessentially kiwi.

The band’s attitude is so modest that an audience equally as casual might not notice that it is fan-fucking-tastic, but this is music as art. Song number two, Smoke, affects you. The musicians themselves are in the background with the music taking centre-stage. This show is not about the spectacle. Louisa Nicklin might not be jumping around, but she plays an intense guitar in a masterful way as well as the sax.  Carter himself sings about payback with eyes closed, head swaying, you Get what you Give and I get the impression that it wouldn’t matter if we weren’t here, Shayne is entirely absorbed in the world of sound. A sound you can dance to, and I do.

His composition is interesting, quirky in places, unexpected but still exactly right when paired with lyrics like “Shining while the galaxies bang.” The vocals are dark and haunting, the sound both melodic and heavier, the guitarists bending notes until those watching can’t help but be starry-eyed about I Believe you are a Star.

Vocals are by turn both ethereal and sonorous, evoking themes of light and dark, with lyrics from Pendulum, backwards clocks, and birdsong playing which has the band drifting towards the surreal, while Seed’s sound is night-time drive music, groove with a harder beat turning into a hypnotic trance.

Occasionally doing the frontman thing Shayne makes jokes about Jetstar in one break and thanks Theia and Te Kaahu for their “Beautiful, pure music,” in another. But these are rare interactions. It’s easy to believe that Carter is an introvert who plays loud, but also likes the quiet. Whether listening to Shayne and Nieve harmonizing, the resonant beat of Sullivan’s percussion, Louisa and Jame’s complex and ringing guitar or Durham’s driving keyboard, the audience is enthralled. We have no issue with Carter spending more time with the songs than us, we can tell he is more connected to the music than the audience, and don’t mind taking a backseat as long as we are along for the ride. I fully recommend you go on the journey you never know what turns Dimmer will take.

Andra Jenkin

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Aaron Christiansen

Dimmer:

Te Kaahu: