October 20, 2023

Princess Chelsea – Neck Of The Woods: October 19, 2023

Another Auckland week abundant with gigs. We are truly blessed. Happy Mondays on Tuesday , Nile Rodgers and Chic in town Wednesday, and tonight Princess Chelsea and band at Neck of the Woods.

This show was meant to be a week ago but illness forced a postponement. The wait was worth it. The Thursday night punters up for it. An absolute treat to hear, in its entirety, track-by-track, Chelsea’s last album – last year’s Taite-award-winning Everything Is Going To Be Alright.

But first, Simon Coffey was there and caught Louisa Nicklin:

To be honest, Louisa Nicklin had slipped under my radar, so I went to tonight’s show with no preconceptions, a modus operandi that has had me discovering artists the likes of Scran, Oscar Dowling and The Ringlets in the past.

She was backed by three accomplished musicians, guitar/Keys, bass and drums, I think two of which were Eamon Edmundson-Wells and Mason Fairey, who also worked on her 2021 self-titled debut album (check it out on most platforms).

Classically/university-trained and genre-leaping musician Louisa Nicklin (and players) created an emotional set of rock n roll with a 60/90s vibe, sparse at times, nicely sparse but without being soft or foppish. Given the musician’s pedigree, and the preciseness and complexity of the compositions, it was easy for Louisa Nicklin to maintain the momentum and audience attachment, with little banter, in a manner that reminded me in moments of Joni Mitchell vs Jay Clarkson aka Jeff Buckley.

The (too) short set was ended with an absolute wall of noise, a headspace song for her bandmates (and herself) to cut loose, a composition of occasional discordant guitar, shafts of banshee keyboards and an energy reminiscent of the post-punk artist the likes of Dinosaur Jr and Mudhoney.

Added to my (ever-growing) list of artists to keep on my gig-radar.

Now back to Karen McCarthy on Princess Chelsea:

She’s a born performer, made for the stage. Glam goth vibes this night. Dark lip, dark eyes, false lashes, slick pixie haircut, evil pixie vibes. Pretty. And pretty menacing at times. Coming on with her six-piece band – Josh, Simeon, Kate, Jasmine, Joe and David – they launch without fanfare into an ominous ‘Everything Part 1’.

A stark white spotlight illuminates as industrial beats kick in alongside screeching chainsaw guitars. It’s an axe attack. And she, a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown. “Everything’s going to be alright” she sings, they chant, they repeat. It’s clearly not. The song ends in a blistering metal meltdown. We are well and truly underway.

‘The Forest’ is a personal fave. Wall of sound. A primal scream. About emerging from dark times and making it through to the other side. The first single off what she herself called her “nervous breakdown album”, Chelsea says this song is about overcoming adversity, preparing yourself to mentally get through a hard situation. It’s a metaphor, she has said, for whatever you need to do to get through. And for her, “it’s often a literal forest.”

She wields a giant tambourine. Wails like a banshee. Roars like a woman possessed. Guitars shred. Iggy Pop intensity. A soaring, epic number.

‘Love Is More’ sees Princess strap on her guitar. Chugging bass and drums coupled with 80s-sounding synths. Deceptively candy-sweet vocals. A hint of menace lurking not very far beneath. Chelsea is flanked by bass player Jasmine and Kate on vocals and percussion. Evocative of The Bangles pop sounds, girl group harmonies .. and again, that sinister undertone.

Simeon kicks off ‘Time’ on acoustic guitar .. a folk-pop ditty type of song. Some pleasant harpsichord or mellotron weirdness weaves throughout. Brings to mind The Stranglers’ Golden Brown. Soon enough Princes Chelsea is snarling again ‘it just takes time …”

Introducing ‘I Don’t Know You’, she mentions she likes Lindsay Buckingham and that this track will show that. It’s another song that gradually builds, then lifts off with not one but two epic Prince-like guitar solos mid-song. Impressive.

‘Forever Is A Charm’ has her in charm mode, lovely melody, whispering sweet nothings before she stabs you deep and hard. It’s that weird but appealing and complex mix of pop sensibilities with underlying menace. Clear and present danger. The Princess can come across as slightly deranged, demented, unhinged at certain moments … intense, staring, challenging, threatening .. all the while enchanting you. The stuff of dark and twisted fairytales. I can’t help recurring thoughts of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Her theatrics. Stagecraft. Intensity. Playfulness. Darkness and beauty. Chelsea could be channelling that goddess of Goths at times. She ends this song coyly, batting her eyelashes … vocals back to a whisper.

‘We Kick Around’ has scary movie vibes as it starts. Chelsea is dancing and wailing as it builds and builds. “Me and my boy …we kick around.”

More chugging bass and drums, distorted guitars co-exist happily with bubblegum pop on this one. I have in my notes ‘Blondie-like’ this track. The vocals I think it was. The song is coming to a close. She swigs from her ever-present can of whatever. Huge applause, loud cheers.

A cover of ‘In Heaven’ is next, from the soundtrack to one of David Lynch’s finest and weirdest Eraserhead. It’s a slow moody buildup again. Sparkles and shines before volume and intensity intensify. You’re scaring me again, Chelsea! Huge guitars crash like glass shattering. Doom metal drums as she intones ‘I love you …everything is fine.” Again, you know it’s not.

Pianist Joe Kaptein has pulled out a trumpet, or is it a cornet and is silhouetted standing rear of stage as the warm but haunting sounds of the brass ring out against the thunder and lightning. An unholy and wholly enjoyable racket ensues.

Next up, Chelsea announces Dream Warrior as synthy, dreamy number, promising ‘we’re gonna change it up.’ She’s not wrong. South Seas/Hawaiian slide guitar vibes, and is that a xylophone in the mix? It’s spacey, and synthy, and shimmering. Close your eyes and you can see the swaying palms.

She’s not unlike Julee Cruise – that extraordinary American chanteuse, and collaborator with David Lynch and composer Angelo Badalementi.

Sadly no longer with us, Cruise had that same dreamy dichotomy in her voice, and songwriting, and singing – the darkness and the light – the deceptively sweet sounds mixed with a lurking menace, or madness. Or something else faintly and sometimes extremely disturbing.

Princess Chelsea drinks from the same well.

Album closer ‘Everything Part 2’ is in contrast to most of what we’ve heard tonight, uplifting and optimistic – a foil to the uneasy opener of the same name. The light at the end of the tunnel. Chelsea is smiling, not snarling now. Vocals fall and rise. More guitar goodness. A cacophonous Pixies-like squall of sound to end.

“I walk outside and everything is gonna be alright” Chelsea sings over and over … and she seems to mean it.

Encore was brief and intense and joyous – ‘No Church’ and ‘Monkey’ – more guitar shredding, infectious grooves, tambourine madness, an ‘80s mood again as the whole band got down with Chelsea on stage, revelling in it. Distant memories of Scottish band ‘Altered Images’ started surfacing during the last, rousing, crowd favourite song of the night ‘ Loneliest Girl.’

All hail the Princess, and her fab band.

Playing an all-ages gig at Big Fan in Morningside tonight, Friday, if you missed last night. Or wanna hear more! A different ‘best of’ setlist promised. Am seriously considering it …

P.S Apologies to support act Louisa Nicklin and band. When I walked in around 8.15pm and saw Shayne Carter walking out, I thought ‘uh-oh….’. I misjudged the start-time and missed your set. I really did wanna see you too.

Karen McCarthy

Princess Chelsea performs tonight at Big Fan

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Brenna Jo Gotje:

Princess Chelsea: