Jordie Lane – Tuning Fork

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DSC_1701When two voices meld together something magical happens. And there was plenty of magic on this Thursday night at Auckland’s Tuning Fork as Australians Jordie Lane and Clare Reynolds harmonized their way into the hearts of the small, but enthusiastic crowd.

Nadia Reid got things underway and turned in a stellar set of her own.  She’s become quite the regular at the Tuning Fork.

Then, at 9:10, Jordie Lane took the stage, sporting a large hat and an acoustic guitar. Beside him was Clare Reynolds who would provide harmonies, percussion and some keyboard playing throughout the set.

Accompanied by Lane’s guitar, the duo began by approaching the microphones singing a long, “ooooo”. It was if the harmony train was coming. It turned out to be War Rages On, a gritty song about the tough street life of Saigon from Jordie’s album, Sleepng Patterns.

For the next tune, Clare hoisted a Gibson guitar case up next to her and proceeded to pound on it, creating some serious low end percussion during the song which was called Feet Fall and, according to Lane, was written about falling in love with a sandwich in New York City.

As I said, Jordie likes to tell a good story, and he was about to launch into one about their experience with traffic in Ponsonby the previous day when a patron’s device interrupted with some digital chatter. Lane noted that this was the first time they had been heckled by Siri and then proceeded to finish his tale of the drunken high-heeled woman who was about to get her car towed and the accident that occurred simultaneously. Who knew Ponsonby was so action-packed?

The song, Lost In You, was a beautiful ballad with Clare playing keyboard and joining in with her impeccable harmonies.

It turns out the guitar case has a name, Betty, and it was introduced before they played Diamond Ring, a tune about going back in time and one that gave Lane a chance to show off his guitar skills along with his harmonica playing. The harmonica definitely gave the performance a Neil Young, Harvest-era vibe.

Clare left the stage briefly, to make herself a cup of tea, while Jordie regaled the audience with a story about dropping acid while at a place called Alligator Creek on the day that Steve Irvin died. Clare returned hallway through I Could Die Looking At You, cup in hand, to add more harmonies.

They then played a couple of new, unrecorded songs. Meet My Maker featured a droning organ part while The Ballad Of Bessie Mae had the crowd clapping along.

They then performed, what they referred to, as a “folk classic”, a version of You Are My Sunshine that seamlessly merged into Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower.

After Black Diamond, the duo took their bows and said goodbye.

But we got one more song…The Publican’s Daughter is a cautionary tale about, well, a publican’s daughter who manages to entrance all who fall under her spell.

“Don’t go near that one”,  the singer is warned

With that, it was over. The evening seemed to fly by. Jordie and Clare managed to find a perfect balance between their between-song banter and the actual music, keeping the crowd laughing between songs and totally entranced during the songs.

And those harmonies…incredible.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Flynn:

Jordie Lane set list:

  1. War Rages On
  2. Feet Fall
  3. Lost In You
  4. Diamond Ring
  5. Think I Always Thought
  6. I Could Die Looking At You
  7. Meet My Maker
  8. The Ballad Of Bessie Mae
  9. You are My Sunshine/All Along The Watchtower
  10. Black Diamond
  11. The Publican’s Daughter

 

 

Marty Duda
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