September 21, 2024

Louisa Nicklin + GroopChat & Green Grove – Double Whammy: September 20, 2024

Even though Louisa Nicklin has been playing (and releasing) since at least 2019, she had not touched on my temporal world until I was fortuitous to see her opening for Princess Chelsea late last year. I was taken by what I heard and saw.

Louisa Nicklin With the gradual release of waiata from her sophomore album The Big Sulk, I noticed a countering to the rambunctious set I had heard live. The Big Sulk is full of consideration, ephemeral harmonies and benignity, though occasionally the boisterous I first encountered rears its’ head on songs such as Thick.

Thus a chance to experience Louisa Nicklin with full band, at the soon to become legendary Tamaki Makaurau venue Double Whammy was taken with both hands (even if the weather was inclement and my haleness a little impaired)

Green Grove
First up, this Tāmaki Makaurau electronic explorer is actually Durham Fenwick (New Gum Sarn) in toto as a multi-instrumentalist tonight, since band members are a frugal if non-existent manifestation. The instruments, aside from human voice, his own and sampled are guitar and keyboard, nay a tray of diaboliica.

A seasoned fellow, Fenwick produced a malady of guitar harmonics delayed flanged over a small wall of electrically generated white noise and ghostly wahine harmonized vox. It’s all very 80s reminiscent of Blade Runner (the original)

There cometh the 70’s electro element BBC née The Tomorrow People. It’s all very ethereal, film kura soundtracks. It suffers from seminal plagiarism a little, but It works as a counter-pose soundtrack to tonight’s coming guitar mannered noise, it certainly flummoxes some of the punters as they steadily stream in.

GroopChat

GroopChat are toru scions whom I recently saw opening for Soft Bait, whence I was mightily impressed by Huia’s rhythmic bass playing, that intertwined graciously with the punky guitar riffs coming from Aiyana, and Teina’s solid drumming.

GroopChat starts with a roar, then a murmur, and then, just in time a more measured meld of post-punk meld of melodies emanate, offering a softer, patient side to GroopChat’s creativity. Once again the bass playing (and sound when it is tidied up) is a delight, A song, their song (please share titles with us that are outside the inside crowd) is fronted with a meandering, distracting lecture about trash, was their strongest I’ve heard so far.

Young and still overtly dwelling on influences, their own capacity to create is threatening in an efficacious way. I’m looking forward to seeing their germination at The Other’s Way in Whiringa-ā-rangi/November.

Louisa Nicklin

It starts with a nod. And the house lights come down (such a cool set up in the new space) the audience is awkwardly respectful, as Louisa Nicklin’s voice fills the whare, accompanied by gentle guitar and understated keyboards.

Louisa Nicklin With her tonight is drummer Mason Fairey, bassist Eamon Edmundson-Wells, Ali Burns on synth and guitar, replacing Durham Fenwick, though he and Shayne P Carter make appearances late in the pō/night,

It’s so Jeff Buckley, especially when you close your eyes, there I’ve said it! Hey!, at least I didn’t compare Nicklin to Morrissey.

Initially onstage, Nicklin’s korero seems to be delivered in dismemberment, and it’s only when the music is alive, you feel she reigns confidence and stature. Coming off the back of a string of shows down both motu’s, the band with her are in fine shape, as they deliver alongside Nicklin, an hour of songs mostly from The Big Sulk.

Music, emotions and bodies sway in waves throughout the night. As expected there is a predominance of harmony and melodies, but occasionally as the bass comes up hard, there Is a welcome old-school Flying Nun-gardism that creeps in. As vulnerability pervades, the audience’s attention is held (excepting the rua prattlers obviously on a mother-daughter sally, by the wharepaku), the room is dominated by couples, young and old, could this be a new genre couples-rock? The emotional imprint in Louisa Nicklin psalms possibly fosters romance in the night.

Louisa Nicklin
There are elements of rock pervading, good rockism, think early Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Neil Young and perhaps even Cat Power. Getting back to the bass, Eamon Edmundson-Wells, like Huia from GroopChat is a star, hippyish in appearance, he is a rhythmic punk in manner and style, I would love to hear and see his double bass action. At a point in time there are whitu/seven on stage, toru/three guitars, rua/two vocalists, it’s a spectacle visually, and energizes all as the pō comes to an end whence Louisa Nicklin is clear about playing the last waiata.

As Thick comes to a finish, instruments are unshouldered, whare music and lights come up, possibly abruptly, but satisfyingly complete, a memorable pō for all.