Eilen Jewell – Tuning Fork June 2, 2018

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It’s not very often that all of the elements come together to create a perfect listening experience, but Eilen Jewell and her band came very close to achieving perfection last night at The Tuning Fork.

When you think of all the things that have to go right to have an enjoyable time at a concert, it’s a wonder it happens at all.  First, the artist has to be in good spirits…and being talented doesn’t hurt. Then they have to play the songs that make both them and the audience happy. And speaking of the audience, they need to be well behaved, attentive, yet enthusiastic.

Then there’s the venue. Is it comfortable? How is the sound quality? Any technical snafus? How’s the beer?

Fortunately the stars aligned last night at Auckland’s Tuning Fork to give those in attendance about the best time they could possibly hope for.

Despite the fact that the show had sold out, there was plenty of room and it was easy to jostle for a prime position.

This was the second time Eilen performed at the venue and she and the band seemed more than thrilled to be there. That attitude seeped into the performance. About three quarters of the way through the show, Jewell veered from the set list to play a few requests. This is often when things can go wrong, with the audience smelling blood and suddenly yelling out titles for the remainder of the night.

But everyone was cool, with Eilen playing crowd favourites such as Bang Bang Bang and Rain Roll On along with, what turned out to be a highlight for me, The Flood, a powerful commentary of the way New Orleans was treated by politicians after Hurricane Katrina.

The set also featured a clutch of old blues tunes, reflecting the content of Jewell’s most recent album, Down Hearted Blues, and in the hands of Eilen and her band, old chestnuts by the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Big Maybelle and Lonnie Johnson were given new life.

On first listen, one wouldn’t consider Eilen Jewell a blues singer, but she brought a jazz vocalist’s attitude to the songs along with a little Western swing.

If that wasn’t enough, there’s the stunning guitar work of longtime bandmember Jerry Miller. Miller has been here twice before with Jewell and many of the audience members were clued in, looking forward to hearing him play as much as Eilen sing. And he did not disappoint, letting rip wonderfully crafted guitar licks one after another as the night went on.

The other members of the band…stand up bassist Shawn Supra and drummer Jason Beek…were less showy but provided a solid rhythm section for the two stars to shine.

By the time Eilen and her band were done, they had played 25 songs in just under two hours…every one of them delivered with passion and perfection.

Perhaps the only element of the evening that wasn’t perfect was the choice of opening act.

Dominic Blaazer, who put on an outstanding show of his own with his full band a few weeks ago, was there with just his guitar and piano player. One got the feeling that the crowd was looking for someone a little more upbeat to get the evening underway, but he persevered nonetheless.

As I said, perfection is a difficult thing to achieve…but this show came mighty close.

Marty Duda

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

 

Eilen Jewell set list:

  1. It’s Your Voodoo Working
  2. Heartache Boulevard
  3. Rich Man’s World
  4. Reckless
  5. You Wanna Give Me A Lift
  6. High Shelf Booze
  7. Rio Grande
  8. Santa Fe
  9. Dusty Box Car Wall
  10. Don’t Leave Poor Me
  11. You Gonna Miss Me
  12. You’ll Be Mine
  13. Another Night To Cry
  14. Where They Never Say Your Name
  15. Sea Of Tears
  16. The Flood
  17. Back To Dallas
  18. Rain Roll On
  19. Bang Bang Bang
  20. Needle And Thread
  21. Down Hearted Blues
  22. Head Over Heels
  23. You Know My Love
  24. Songbird
  25. I Remember You
Marty Duda
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