Live Review: Jakob at San Fran, Wellington

Jakob guitarist Jeff Boyle adjusting his effects pedals at the Wellington gig on Friday night

Jakob (Napier, NZ)

w/ Bachelor of Architecture & Spook the Horses

San Francisco Bathhouse, Wellington

Friday 24 October 2014

It seems that it has been quiet on the Jakob front for a very long time. Their last record, Solace, was released in 2006. And the semi-regular gigs seemed to have stopped since they opened for Tool in Auckland during May last year. There have been a few side projects like Mean and Desbot to whet our appetites, but still fans were left hungry for more.

And now, a tremendous new album, Sines, with an accompanying tour to boot! To say I am thrilled is an understatement.

It felt so right being back at the freshly renovated San Francisco Bathhouse, watching such a glorious band. I have missed both the venue and the band so much.

Although no mention of opening acts were on the tour poster or the website, Wellington had two.

Bachelor of Architecture started the night with his sonic soundscapes. The most interesting part for me was seeing him play an unusual instrument: a metal fireplace shovel with a bow. Although BoA may have seemed suitable to open, his music was too long and directionless to be captivating.

Spook the Horses were more exciting. Their driving music seemed more stimulating, with polyrhythmic drumbeats and riffs propelling the music forward. They broke the mould be adding hardcore vocals to some songs, in the form of bearded roaring.

Jakob were always going to be good. The place was packed and everyone knew what to expect. They may not be showy, but their music is enough mesmerise.

There is something primitively attractive about it all. The band is bathed in rich coloured light, shrouded by the thick smoky haze. The building hums from the bass. You can feel the vibrations in your chest cavity. The guitar rises and falls in waves and layers, gradually immersing us in aural bliss. The repetition of a tribal drum tattoo is hypnotic. Everyone watches in awe, drinking in the sights and sounds.

And then: the most exciting part. That moment when guitarist Jeff Boyle leans forward to step on his distortion pedal and usher in the climax of the song. It’s that anticipation that keeps you on edge during each song, waiting, wanting.

They rest on the strength of their songs. Each one is immaculately written and played with such finesse and control. Like any three-piece band, each member really needs to pull their weight to make it work. And these three musicians are clearly experts of their craft.

I love how down to earth they are. Dressed plainly in black and delivering no-nonsense, high-quality music. Many bands of lesser calibre would expect stage hands to do the set up and menial labour, but these three were sound checking and tuning their own guitars between songs.

Seeing Jakob at San Fran was the same as it has always been. The same awesome music. The same straight forward delivery. The same songs, but now with a fresher expanded set. The same Jakob: consistently excellent.

Joseph James

Set list from the Jakob show at San Francisco Bathhouse, Friday 24 October 2014

Live Review: Shaun Kirk at Bodega, Wellington

Shaun Kirk

w/ Paint The Sand

Bodega, Wellington

Thursday 11 September 2014

Bodega was set up differently last night. There were couches and seats in front of the stage where everyone would usually stand.

This suited perfectly for local opening act Ben Maurice, under the guise of Paint the Sand. His music is designed for chilling back to, comprising of surf-inspired originals and laid-back pop cover medleys. Switching from acoustic to electric guitar in the past year has worked for him, making his set more varied and dynamic. He has added some nice brooding interludes to his set with the use of some distortion and a touch of reverb. He kept the crowd entertained between songs with his self-deprecating humour, checking to see if we were still awake.

It was clear that Shaun Kirk had chops from the opening notes. The sound was so crisp, and Kirk commanded full control over his guitar.

And it wasn’t just his guitar, either. He really was a one-man band, playing guitar, singing, blowing into his harp and playing drums though the use of pedals at his feet. It was a funny sight at times. Kirk perched on his stool strumming the gat and singing whilst lightly stomping on his many pedals. It looked like a leprechaun dancing a jig, hopping from foot to foot. I’m still not sure how he managed to keep balance atop his stool.

Highlight of the night was the song “Chicken and Corn”. Kirk introduced the song with a story about his past. When he decided to become a full-time musician he’d bought himself a Kombi. He’d named it Tracy and painted it orange. He would drive from town to town playing shows to earn money to pay for petrol so he could drive to the next show. To sustain his meager existence he’d sleep in the back of the Kombi and live off a diet of only peanut butter, bread and tinned chicken and corn. It was tough at the time, but he laughs when he looks back at those times now.

Kirk was a wonder to watch. We were sat down on the floor in front of him, entranced with his innate guitar playing ability and raspy falsetto voice. He channeled the spirit of the greats, like his idol, Tony Joe White, and brought some authentic Blues to lil’ ol’ Wellington.

If anyone in the South Island is reading this, I highly recommend going along to the last few shows of the tour. And while you’re at it, take some cans of chicken and corn to donate to a poor blues guitarist.

Joseph James

Shaun Kirk’s pedals. Note the five pedals for drums, as well as a stomp box.

Live Review: Biffy Clyro at the Auckland Powerstation

Biffy Clyro

Powerstation, Auckland

Tuesday 2 September 2014

Last night at my dreams came true.

In the form of three topless bearded Scotsmen, no less!

Biffy Clyro have been my favourite band since I was 15. I finally got to see them live last night. This was the first time the band has played in New Zealand, their performance at Rhythm and Vines in 2009 having been cancelled due to illness.

Biffy Clyro have packed out Wembly Stadium, headlined some of the UK’s biggest music festivals, and toured with rock heavyweights such as Foo Fighters and Muse. Despite this, they are largely unheard of in New Zealand. Not that this was evident last night, with the Powerstation at full capacity, brimming with diehard fans yelling their trademark chant: “Mon the Biff!” (Mon being an abbreviation of “come on”).

The band made a grand entrance. They stormed the stage to a frenzied pre-recorded Scottish shouted chant, one sounding rather like a Maori haka in my mind. If the chant wasn’t enough to rev up to crowd, opening song ‘Different People’ from Biffy’s latest record Opposites made sure to finish the job. The song has a slow build up, but every person in the crowd knew that after a few minutes the band would reach a verse and let loose. And let loose they did.

The show was saturated in energy. The musicians threw themselves around the stage with abandon. The anthems were huge. The ballads soared and the heavier songs were explosive.

“We’re monning as much as we can!” front man Simon Neil shouted to the crowd, “This is our first time in New Zealand, so we’re going to play some older songs. If that’s OK?” The band then played ‘Wave Upon Wave Upon Wave’ from their 2004 release Infinity Land. This was the first time they’d played it in seven years.

Biffy Clyro front man Simon Neil playing 'God and Satan' solo on acoustic guitar

Biffy Clyro front man Simon Neil plays ‘God and Satan’ solo on acoustic guitar

And that wasn’t the only treat for the crowd. The set list was well balanced, drawing from material old and new, acoustic and electric. There was even a B-side thrown into the mix. My personal highlight was ‘57’ from the band’s debut release Blackened Sky.

It was impressive how talented the band was. Each of the three members (front man Simon Neil on guitar, and twin brothers Ben and James Johnston, on drums and bass, respectively) shared vocal duties. Also onstage were two touring musicians helping to fill out the sound (Mike Vennart on guitar and Richard Ingram on keys). When five musicians can play weird time signatures like that without missing a beat you can tell they’ve had a lot of practise. Just listen to the ‘Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies’ and you’ll understand exactly what I mean. They had clearly spent a lot of time tightening up their playing to get that unified.

It was obvious that most of the audience were long time fans. You don’t usually see that many people singing along with the band at a show, especially when the lyrics are as off kilter as Biffy’s. But the fans were all singing along, many waving Scottish flags about. Vennart, the rhythm guitarist, even changed from his suit into a red kilt that a punter had thrown onstage.

It was a special night for Biffy Clyro fans. It had been a long time coming, but the band more than made up for the wait.

Joseph James

Set list for the Biffy Clyro Powerstation show in Auckland.
Note that the actual set deviated from the plan.
‘The Rain’, a B-side from Similarities was played after ‘Victory Over The Sun’.
For the encore ‘Folding Stars’ was played in place of ‘Machines’

Live Review: Rise Against at the Auckland Powerstation

Rise Against

w/ Cobra Khan

Auckland Powerstation

31 March 2009

This was published in a local Nelson youth magazine called Jam. It has a few typos, but I was so pleased to have my first review published. Click on the image to view it in a higher resolution.

Live Review: Ellie Goulding at the Wellington TSB Arena

Ellie Goulding

w/ Broods

TSB Arena Wellington

Monday 9 June 2014

Brother/sister duo Broods proved to be an ideal choice as tonight’s opening act. It was a homecoming of sorts for the two, who, along with their drummer, played a half hour set of sparse synth based music that complemented Goulding’s electropop brilliantly. Although the sampling sounded a bit weak to start with, once the mix improved they played a suitably dynamic set. Broods is quite a departure from the siblings’ previous band, The Peasants, and judging from crowd reaction they could well follow down the path just recently paved by Lorde.

If Broods gave a taste then Goulding gave the full combo deal, demonstrating how well the style of music can be played with a full band. Goulding herself proved adept on both guitar and drums, showing her to be more than just a pretty voice that can gyrate across a stage. She started off strong with hits like ‘Figure 8’ and ‘Starry Eyed’ before changing down a gear to a stripped back song. She then stripped it back even more for a short acoustic set of songs with just guitar or piano for accompaniment. An Elton John cover preceded a lull in the set but the pace picked back up eventually, providing more opportunities for the crowd to move about.

From there on in it got better and better, with Goulding appearing more comfortable to “be silly” onstage, as she told us in her polite English accent. The audience in turn seemed to receive each song better than the last, until the band finally concluded with the song ‘Burn’.

This is one of the better setups I’ve seen at this venue. The stands at the rear were set up, making the arena appear fuller. The lights and screens were impressive. Goulding had the goods. Enjoyable and diverse, she demonstrated that an excellent concert can be put on without the overly excessive price of admission that her popstar contemporaries charge. She has the voice, the charisma and the stage show without the diva attitude to match.