Sometimes the most rewarding concerts are ones where you go
along not quite knowing what to expect. I remember a fabulous night - I think it was at the James Cabaret in Wellington - when we were entertained by a slick Seattle-based, female-dominated
alt-country outfit called Ranch Romance. I hadn’t heard of them before and I
haven’t heard of them since, but what a performance.
It happened again with Lil’ Band of Gold, a bunch of mellow
New Orleans music veterans who played the San Francisco Bath House several
years ago. And possibly the greatest concert I ever had the good fortune to
attend: Brian Wilson and a cast of thousands (or so it seemed) performing Smile in Wellington. I fretted beforehand that Wilson –
my musical hero since 1964, but notoriously erratic – would let me down. I
needn’t have worried. When I came out of the theatre I thought seriously about
booking a flight to Christchurch to hear it all again the next night.
Conversely, the shows you attend with high expectations
sometimes turn out to be a disappointment. Example: Steely Dan at Church Road a
few years ago. Nothing will change my view that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker
are two of the cleverest musicians of the rock era, but live in concert? It was
just like hearing their records, but with actual people on stage (and Walter
Becker saying “fuck” a lot, which became tedious). Even more of a letdown was
Emmylou Harris, who so lacked any stage presence when I saw her in Wellington that
the audience hardly noticed when she came on. Mind you, she’s still up there in
the galaxy of great country singers.
But I digress. At the latest house concert hosted by Simon Burt and Pip Steel at their rural Wairarapa home last night, the entertainment was
provided by the Bend. Never heard of them? Neither had I. But you might
recognise some of the individual names. Fane Flaws (guitar), Peter Dasent
(keyboards) and Tony Backhouse (bass) have a remarkable collective pedigree
that stretches back to Blerta, Spats and the Crocodiles. They’ve been playing together
off and on for nearly four decades. On this occasion they were joined by a
young (well, younger) drummer named Andrew Gladstone.
Why “the Bend”? Well for a start, it’s an ironic play on the
name of a slightly more famous outfit from Canada. The Bend do irony very well.
But as Flaws explained, the name was also inspired by a young lady who sidled
up to Dasent years ago after a performance somewhere down south and inquired,
in classically pinched, nasal Kiwi vowels, “Aren’t you with the bend?”.
This little anecdote set the tone for a wonderfully entertaining
night that was rich in sly, subversive humour but impossible to categorise musically. Think Talking Heads mashed up with Lou Reed and Frank Zappa (or so I
was assured by someone more familiar with Zappa than I am) and an occasional hint of the Beatles, and you’re somewhere in the ballpark. At least
that was my take on the Bend’s songs, but I admit to not being familiar with
the musical territory these guys range over.
The first half of the night was – well, not exactly
conventional (the Bend don’t do conventional), but at least there was something
recognisable in the repertoire. It was energetic, raw, punkish (but always disciplined)
rock and roll. After the interval, however, they spiralled into a different
realm altogether – slightly deranged, with elements of cabaret (think 1930s Berlin,
but with Fender guitars and a type of humour that you wouldn't encounter anywhere but New Zealand) and a madcap quality that had me thinking Spike Jones.
But here’s the thing: it was astonishingly inventive and (like
Spike Jones) musically literate. Dasent (who played on
the recent Last Waltz 40th Anniversary Tour, in which New Zealand
performers paid tribute to the Band) looks too much like a librarian or mathematician
to be in a rock band, but he’s a musician of enormous virtuosity. He’s quietly witty,
too, subtly sneaking snatches from the theme tunes for Dr Finlay’s Casebook and The
Avengers into a song about watching TV. (At least I think that’s what it
was about.)
Backhouse, besides being an impeccably fluent bass player,
has one of New Zealand rock music’s most distinctive voices. It has an almost
operatic quality. And then there’s the charismatic Flaws, the band’s front man,
who played and sang with manic energy. In fact you had to admire the whole band’s
energy levels, considering this was their ninth gig in 10 days.
Behind it all, Gladstone, whom I’d guess is a generation behind
the rest of the band, fitted seamlessly into all the inspired weirdness – a tragedy
in one so young.
A terrific night all round, and a hard act for Simon and Pip to follow.
Correction: The original version of this post wrongly said I saw the Ranch Romance gig at Petone.
2 comments:
Saw the Wellington concert: it was equally worthwhile.
Nelson was fantastic too. Great entertainment from a bunch of real professionals having fun.
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