Alex Cameron
15th February 2018
The Kings Arms, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.
The days of the venue that is almost the patron saint of good music in Auckland are nearly up, The Kings Arms demise looming like a dark cloud on the horizon; the one salvation being that with a bevy of gigs lined up she will be seen out in style. With an astounding double header gracing her stage tonight, fans have arrived early to ensure that they catch the full set of support act (although to call him support is almost insulting as he is an exceptional artist in his own right) Jack Ladder from Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders. Last here at this very same venue in December 2016 where he appeared on the bill with the incomparable Angel Olsen, it was most wonderful to see Jack’s long legs once again walk up those few small stairs to take his place in front of the microphone.
Tall, lean and with a shock of hair on his head, Ladder stood before the audience with his red shirt half-way unbuttoned and one eye screwed up against the awfully glaring stage light that seemed intent on being focused on nothing but his face. Picking up his guitar Ladder serenaded the audience with the wonderful ‘I Love Your Mind’ from his 2008 album Love is Gone. Within minutes his magnetic vibrations had reverberated around the room and had drawn people in close to the stage, almost as if they were huddling close enough to feel at one with this wonderfully enigmatic character. Speaking in very deep and hushed tones, Ladder thanked the audience for coming down early before moving into ‘Beautiful Sound’, a melancholy tune which includes the sumptuous line “when a heart breaks it makes a beautiful sound”; Ladder bringing his own form of beauty to even the most sorrowful moments of one’s life. While there were some of Ladder’s well know tracks included in the set, such as the gorgeous ‘Dumb Love’ and ‘Cold Feet’ – whose opening notes are reminiscent of Placebo’s track ‘Burger Queen; Ladder also treated the audience to a couple of new songs from his upcoming album entitled ‘Blue Poles’. The first, ‘White Flag’ which Ladder informed the audience is about a kidnapping, saw Ladder leaning over his gold accented keyboard to set the backing track before standing back amongst the shadows of the stage with the mic in hand to deliver the powerful song, his body slightly hunched as the words coursed through him.
Suddenly from the middle of the audience a man screams “I love you Jack!”, to be fair he had been calling this out throughout the set, but at this moment in time he was determined to make Ladder hear him, and hear him he did, replying with a “Thanks Man, so you keep saying” a self-conscious crooked smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. After thanking the audience for having him and promising to bring his band over again Ladder finished on another new track entitled ‘Merciful Reply’, a short but poignant number set yet again to a pre-programmed track which ended almost church bell style; Ladder almost bent over double as he sang the line “You don’t know how much I love you.” Always a thrill to watch perform live, here’s hoping that Jack Ladder will be back again, this time with band in tow.
It’s an exciting time in the career of tonight’s headliner Alex Cameron, as not only is he touring his fantastic sophomore album ‘Forced Witness’ released in September of last year, but he has also just been announced as the support act for all three of The Killers shows here in New Zealand later this year. Having co-written several songs with lead vocalist Brandon Flowers for their latest album Wonderful Wonderful the inclusion of Cameron on the bill is indeed an inspired choice. Often described as a ‘high-concept act’ Cameron first started capturing the attention of fans when he released his album Jumping the Shark’ for free on his website in 2013. Now with his brilliant and intellectual music that saw him begin by building a persona around being a skeeze with his first album he moves into more of a look into and around the male psyche and the issue of toxic masculinity (to read more about Cameron’s take on this check out our interview here).
Taking to the stage – band in tow (which included the wonderful Jack Ladder on guitar) and slick new haircut in place, Cameron shone as he kicked off the set with ‘Studmuffin96’. Dressed in a white singlet with denim jacket firmly in place, Cameron commanded the stage, his faithful business partner Roy Molloy to his left. Molloy carries a fan club all of his own, with the crowd often losing their collective minds every time the man places the saxophone to his lips; and it is easy to see why, with his mop of curly hair, a half smile on his face and an ability to play the sax in such a way that it almost becomes a second vocalist, Molloy is indeed ‘the man’. ‘Happy Ending’ sees Cameron introduce us to the stunning Holiday Sidewinder who dressed in a PVC skirt and satin brasserie not only adds the wow factor to the visual aesthetic of the band but is like another aspect to the whole topic of toxic masculinity that Cameron addresses with his songs. A nod to his first album comes in the form of crowd favourite ‘Real Bad Lookin’ which sees Cameron twist and contort his face momentarily to adopt the persona of the failed musician we came to know and love (even if at times it also raised the feeling of repulsion) from Jumping The Shark.
Of course it wouldn’t be an Alex Cameron show without an assessment from Mr Molloy; Molloy happily taking the stool that he had been seated on and carefully examining it while giving running commentary on its size and shape, the state of the seat and how worn it was (as rightly deduced by Molloy, the seat was indeed pleather causing it to wear down faster). The crowd were transfixed by Molloy, nodding in fervent agreement to each of his remarks. When Molloy ultimately declared that his final score of the stool was four out of five, the room erupted; Molloy stepping back and nodding while Cameron who was standing at the back of the stage while all this was going on grinned widely.
Back to the music and the love song ‘Candy May’ – Cameron’s crooning elevating it completely – was followed up by a wonderful duet between Cameron and Sidewinder on ‘Stranger’s Kiss’. While not having the same intensity as the original (which sees Cameron’s dear friend Angel Olsen sing the duet) it was still captivating in such an intimate setting. ‘True Lies’ co-written with Jack Ladder while the two stayed in isolation in the Blue Mountains led the audience this evening into the final segment of the show; ‘Runnin Outta Luck’ seeing the audience sing along to the upbeat tempo while ‘Marlon Brando’ saw Cameron completely break out of his shell and gleam as he busted out some of the most intriguing dance moves, the song he had momentarily ago advised us, his contribution into the in depth investigation of the condition of the straight white male.
While an encore was enthusiastically demanded from those in attendance, alas it was not forthcoming. This could be due to the fact that Cameron has been performing almost every night, and frankly is exhausted, or maybe after presenting all with food for thought, the track ‘Marlon Brando’ being his final point to his case, he was inviting us to do our own investigations within the society in which we live.
Were you there at The Kings Arms for this intimate gig? Or have you seen Alex Cameron perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Alex Cameron Setlist:
- Studmuffin96
- Happy Ending
- Real Bad Lookin
- The Comeback
- Candy May
- The Chihuahua
- Strangers Kiss
- True Lies
- Runnin’ Outta Luck
- Politics Of Love
- Marlon Brando
Jack Ladder Setlist:
- I Love Your Mind
- Beautiful Sound
- Dumb Love
- White Flag
- Hurtsville
- Cold Feet
- Merciful Reply
If you enjoyed this content, please consider donating towards the running of Ambient Light, covering expenses and allowing us to expand the coverage you love by visiting our PressPatron page.