Miriam Clancy – Wine Cellar: May 10, 2023

Miriam Clancy returned to New Zealand for personal reasons, but then went public last night with a show at the Wine Cellar featuring Rodney Fisher and her drumming cousin Hannah.

We at the 13^th Floor were fortunate to spend some time with Miriam earlier in the day when she stopped by with guitar in hand and played a tune for us. You can see that visit here.

Rodney Fisher

A few hours later we were all down at The Wine Cellar where Goodshirt’s Rodney Fisher was warming things up on this very wintery Wednesday evening.

Rodney began his brief (4-song, 20-minute) set with a song called Keeping Up Appearances and by the sound of it, Fisher is still keeping in touch with his songwriting muse, the one that produced hit single, Sophie.

“I’m gonna have a dance party” he announced, and with that be discarded his acoustic guitar, went electric and started the backing track for another new tune that may, or may not, be called I Was Waiting For You.

Then another, possibly titled Give Me A Sign and then he finished with his current single, ICU.

But that wasn’t the last we saw of Rodney Fisher.

Miriam Clancy

Miriam is a Kiwi currently living in eastern Pennsylvania and she’s been in New Zealand for a couple of weeks taking care of family business. Now,  just about 12 hours before she flies back to PA, here she is at Auckland’s Wine Cellar, treating us to a special solo show that seems to be “for friends and family” with Miriam’s mum in the audience and cousin Hannah behind the drum kit for a few tunes.

If you haven’t heard Miriam’s latest album, Black Heart, please, by all means do yourself a favour and check it out. Clancy performed 10 or the 12 songs from it tonight.

But the show started with Girl About Town, her breakthrough single from her debut album, Lucky One, released way back in 2006.

“So that was the first, here’s my last” and we’re straight into Miriam’s Black Heart.

Her voice is in great shape and she looks stunning in her puffy dress.

After commenting on the “brilliant weather” encountered on her brief return home, she does a shout out to her mum and calls for cousin Hanna Dactyl (aka Hanna DK) to join in on Feels Like Heaven (note: you can see Hannah drumming with Boom! Boom! Deluxe soon at The 13^th Floor in her Leopard Print)

Miriam moves over to the keyboard for lovely Velveteen and stays there until she picks up her guitar to perform Death Becomes The Maiden, one of the evening’s many highlights.

Rodney Fisher makes his inevitable return and Hannah climbs back behind the drums.

“The whole band!”  exclaims Miriam as they play what Clancy refers to as “my favourite New Zealand song”.

It’s Down In Spendour, originally recorded by Straitjacket Fits and written by Andrew Brough and this turns into a perfect New Zealand Music Month moment.

“I don’t wanna go…I’m going to miss my plane!” But go she must, but not before playing one more, brand new song.

Titled, Janis, You’re Evil, Miriam claims that, although the song has nothing to do with D’Arcy Clay, she has fond memories of him along with another fallen Kiwi artist, Hamish Kilgour.

This new song has the same dark intensity that we hear on Black Heart, so it sounds like the next record will pick up where that one left off.

Good for Miriam and good for us.

Marty Duda

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Miriam Clancy Setlist:

1. Girl About Town
2. Black Heart
3. Pennsylvania
4. Cassowary
5. Feels Like Heaven
6. Head In The Hole
7. Velveteen
8. Guide For All Humankind
9. Kamikaze Angels
10. Death Becomes The Maiden
11. True-Ish
12. Down In Splendour
13. Janis, You’re Evil