George After James – The Wine Cellar: June 8, 2023

George After James, or James George Fistonich, headlined a show at Auckland’s Wine Cellar last night generating vibes as warm as a mulled wine.

Jordan.Reagan

In fact, opening act Jordan.Reagan did, indeed, urge the audience to ‘grab a cup of mulled wine’ as the show got underway at about 7:45 last night.

Jordan was aided and abetted by twin brother Carl on Cajon and “Uncle Chris” on guitar.

Following the first tune played, Jordan referred to it as “my pancake song”, not that it needed any syrup, but he noted that, like pancakes, the first one can be ‘funky’ and not as pretty as the rest.

There was plenty of other good-natured self-deprecating humour being bandied about during Jordon’s set, including a story about his co-workers at the factory he works in debating whether a certain sound heard there was a cat dying or Jordan singing.

But there was love in the house.

“He’s single!’ shouted out Jordan’s sister-in-law. And sighs were audible.

The 40-minute set included one cover, a version of Alicia Keys’ You Don’t Know My Name.

“This is 20 years old”, Jordan noted, “when I was in my prime…when this came out I was 10 years old.”

I’m sure there were those on hand tonight who would say that he’s in his prime now.

Laurs

It’s spelled like Laura, but with an s instead of an ‘a’ at the end.

OK.

Good luck Googling this one.

Because after hearing young Laurs’ set, you’ll want to know more about her.

I’m guessing she’s maybe 20-ish and hasn’t done a lot of gigs. There is just one single out on “the platforms” a tune called Hand Me Downs, released in January.

We heard it tonight along with six other original songs that make a case for paying attention to this up-and-comer.

Laurs revealed that she had woken up the previous day with ‘no voice at all’, but to these ears, she sounded just fine.

And her between song banter was also revealing and entertaining. Songs like Eggshells, Meteor and Guts have lovely back stories and Laurs tells those stories well. The diminutive singer/songwriter finished her set with Little, a song ‘about having massive dreams and being really small’.

To Laurs I say, ‘dream on!’

George After James

The three sets came fast tonight one after another, which was perfect for me as I need to be home by 10 (for other 13^th Floor business).  George (or James) started his se at 9:15 and I had the pleasure of catching about half of if before London (literally) came calling.

The set was sprinkled with new songs and old favourites, and the man was in fine voice.

By now, the crowd had grown to a very healthy size and One I Call Home, from the EP Wait For You, was a standout as was new tune, How Long.

When I left, George was encouraging a singalong to Morning Song and I’m guessing it got even better from there.

It was cold out on K Rd but the trip home didn’t seem so bad. Maybe there was a mulled wine waiting on the other end.

Marty Duda