Laney Blue – Wine Cellar April 23, 2022 (Concert Review)
Laney Blue, a musically-adventurous 4-piece from Dunedin, brought the good vibes back to Auckland with their show at The Wine cellar.
Helping out was Auckland band Ringlets and singer-songwriter Mali Mali.
It has felt like artists, audiences and venues have struggled to come out of lockdown over the past few weeks. To me the biggest hindrance to having a good time was the placement of tables and chairs where fans would usually be standing and dancing.
Tonight there was plenty of room to get up close and personal at The Wine Cellar.
The line-up was intriguing…a “sensitive” singer-songwriter in the form of Mali Mali (Ben Tolich), then a four-piece indie-rock band, Ringlets, who love to rock out, and then our headliners, Dunedin’s Laney Blue, also a four-piece, but featuring a fiddle and sounding like a unique mix of folk/country/rock and bluegrass.
Up first was Mali Mali.
Ben tentatively tinkled on his electric piano as the crowd trickled in…then got things going with a :Hi everybody!” and a selection of songs from his latest EP, Kill And Throw, along with a few older tunes and even a new song or two.
Ben switched from keys to guitar and back again and his vocals were gorgeous. It sounded as if he was setting a mood rather than just playing a bunch of songs.
That mood shifted into overdrive as the room filled up and the four members of Ringlets took the stage. They are: vocalist Leith Towers, guitarist Laszlo Reynolds, Arabella Poulsen on bass and drummer Arlo Grey.
Their sound is, for want of a better description, angular indie-rock. The band itself is new…with nothing released (until next week) although Leith and Laszlo have been making music together and separately over the las few years.
The band definitely has something going on. The rhythm section is solid and Laszlo seems to have the looks and the attitude of a rock star…he’s tall, lanky and has a great head of hair. Leith, meanwhile vibed off the crowd while Laszlo was fuelled by pre-show tortellini. The pasta kicked in and the band played a blazing 25 minute set. They’ll be back at The Wine Cellar on May 6th.
Now, Laney Blue is a whole different kettle of fish. This is their first show of their tour to promote their album, Dreamer Too. They are: Nick Tipa, guitar and voice (and whistling), Olive Butler on violin and vocals, Jeremy Clark, bass and Zac Nicholls on the drums.
When they launched into set (and album) opener Tonight, it felt like a completely different show in from of a completely different audience from Ringlets…but it was all good.
Olive seemed to be channelling Scarlett Rivera and Nick’s voice was heavenly.
Most of the set was comprised of tunes from the new album, naturally…with highlights being Ernest’s Wishes and two songs, each titled Vera (go figure).
There were a few new songs sprinkled in, indicating there is more to come.
The 55 minute set came to a rousing conclusion with an epic 10 minute version of Dead Man, followed by an uplifting Vera (2).
This is a band firing on all cylinders. Drummer Zac Nicholls seemed to become possessed at various points during the show and the crowd was loving it.
It was a great night, with plenty of good music (of all varieties) and a welcome indication that things are getting back to “normal”.
Marty Duda
Laney Blue setlist:
- Tonight
- Pressure
- Shame
- Vera
- Asleep (working title)
- Ernest’s Wishes
- Beans
- Weekend (working title)
- Dead Man
- Vera II
