Amigo the Devil
1st May 2024
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand
Review by Sarah Kidd with photography by Doug Peters.
Stating that you are off on a Wednesday night in Auckland to ‘see the Devil’ might raise a few eyebrows, but for those who are in the know it would prompt nothing but maniacal grins of joy.
The fans of Amigo The Devil to be fair, probably never dreamed of their idol making it all the way down to little New Zealand from Nashville, so when an Australian tour was announced, cries of longing from his followers rang out all over Aotearoa and obviously struck a chord, for not one but two dates were added to the line-up.
And speaking of chords, Amigo the Devil certainly knows one or two and happily displays it as he shifts seamlessly between guitar and banjo, his animated persona never losing one iota of its vitality as he weaves tales of murder, death, revenge and at times devastation and yet through all of this salvation is reached.
Amigo the Devil (real name Danny Kiranos) is a storyteller, and it is his ability to do so which has amassed a somewhat cult following of fans across the world. Think Nick Cave Murder Ballads era crossed with Tom Waits, a healthy dose of Jack Black’s Tenacious D thrown in for good measure and you may get something close to what Amigo the Devil is.
Armed with nothing more than a banjo, a mane of hair that is quite enviable and a presence that quite simply was so much larger than life, the crowd welcomed Danny like a long-lost brother, the collective holding of breath seemingly bringing time to a standstill as he made his way to the microphone stand. A smile flashed across his face and the audience erupted, weeknights and rain be damned, this is what they had come for.
What followed was ninety minutes of an absolute rollercoaster of a ride. Whether you were already a signed-in-blood fan or a newcomer, this was a show that was hard not to enjoy; as one fan unashamedly admitted at its conclusion, “I absolutely bawled my eyes out”.
And it’s true Amigo the Devil’s shows can elicit that kind of emotion – in fact his shows can mine your soul for feelings that you may not even have known you had.
Moving from tracks such as ‘I Hope Your Husband Dies’ where Danny delves into questionable tongue in cheek conversations about being with another man’s wife before leading the crowd down the garden path and into a singalong of Smashmouths ‘All Star’ which the fans embraced wholeheartedly.
The whole outro soon involving a conversation about how there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure and a rather off-colour joke about how the woman of the song soon found out who the better drunk driver was saw a few exclamations of shocked humour float towards the stage, Danny smiling and stating, “Bad joke, but I’m kinda into it”.
A science experiment to see if people could guess the track that Danny was playing very quickly proved that everyone knows the chorus of ‘Escape (The Piňa Colada Song)’ but the fact not many in the crowd know the first verse seemed to amuse Danny greatly, his ability to play with the audience but never in a mean way making everyone feel more like they were hanging with an old friend than an international musician.
And yes, there were tears, his speech of losing friends certainly hitting home for more than a few people, grief a binding tie that has sadly touched most in their lives – not to mention the devastating lyrics of ‘Garden Or Leaving’ from his brilliant new album Yours Until The War is Over released earlier this year, a song that brought a somber yet respectful silence to the room.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, ‘Different Anymore’ sung with such passion, that at one point it was if Danny’s guitar transformed into the devil itself as it vibrated throughout the room, his voice booming that a microphone was almost deemed unnecessary; Murder at the Bingo Hall an absolute freight train that came barrelling through not long after.
More questionable humour came in the form of ‘Wonderful (Waffle) House’ – a song that needs to be experienced in person – before ‘Hungover in Jonestown’ saw Danny lead another singalong to that gorgeous line of “This life is a joke, and death is the punchline”.
From here it got even more intimate, with Danny deciding that he would much rather play down on the floor amongst the audience. Inviting those who wanted to, to get up on stage (kiwis being kiwis, shy at first, but with a little encouragement forming an entire ring around the man) he serenaded one and all with some fan favourites such as ‘Once Upon a Time at Texaco Pt. 1’, the absolutely brilliant ‘Hell and You’ which features banjo playing that will live inside your head for days and the murder ballad to end all others ‘Perfect Wife’. A cover of John Moreland’s ‘Break My Heart Sweetly’ was also delivered with reverence, as Danny explained that lyrically the song can be taken in different ways, much like life. It is all about how you view it and the journey you are on. Food for thought indeed.
Finishing with ‘Another Man’s Grave’, Danny sincerely thanked all for coming and invited everyone to join him at the bar in fifteen minutes for a drink should they so feel like it, if not then he wished them safe travels home; not an invite you would hear from most artists but one that yet again made Amigo the Devil so endearing.
At an Amigo the Devil show you will laugh, you will cry, and you will most certainly contemplate this life itself. And isn’t that what music is all about?
Amigo the Devil:
Will Wood:
Were you there at The Tuning Fork for this magnificent Alt-Folk gig? Or have you seen Amigo The Devil perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only.
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