Bret McKenzie
8th September 2022
The Opera House, Wellington, New Zealand.
Review by Kath Read, photography by Garry Thomas.
There definitely felt like something in the air last night as Bret McKenzie took the stage at the Wellington Opera House for his ‘Songs Without Jokes’ concert. McKenzie shared that it was special to be playing in a venue he knew so well from his home town, one that he has performed on from the age of 11 (in a production of Oliver Twist). The venue was packed solid, and many recognisable faces from the who’s who of Wellington entertainment could be spotted amongst the crowd (yes, even Taika Waititi was there). Bret mentioned several times that the audience contained many of his friends and family, so much that it felt more like a launch party rather than a concert.
Right at the top of the concert, Bret quipped that someone suggested to him on Instagram that his album and tour should be called Songs Without Jemaine, highlighting just how firmly entrenched they are as a duo. But this new album is very much Bret’s solo work and despite the title, there are a few sneaky jokes in his new songs. As was the stage banter between songs, which kept the mood light and fun.
Backed by a talented and capable band, Bret treated the audience to a host of songs from the new album, from the boppy ‘If You Wanna Go’ to the shaggy New Orleans-style jazz of ‘A Little Tune’ and ‘This World’; a moody ballad in ‘Up in Smoke’; the 80’s vibes of synth pop jam ‘Dave’s Place’, which apparently started life as a country song, and ‘America Goodbye’ which had shades of great road trip tunes of yore.
All throughout the performance of these new songs I found myself trying to put my finger on what vibe I was picking up from this album. It wasn’t until the gig was over and I was filing out of the venue and I heard the unmistakeable voices of Vika and Linda Bull over the PA system and it hit me that it was shades of Joe Camilleri’s late 80’s/early 90’s band The Black Sorrows that I could hear in these songs.
As well as the songs from the album, we were treated to a cover version of Randy Newman’s ‘Short People’; Bret’s Oscar winning ‘Man or Muppet’ from the 2011 Muppet movie, rather hilariously voicing both the Man and the Muppet characters; a couple of New Zealand classics from The Front Lawn and The Black Seeds, as well as a few new songs, one of which is so new he hadn’t fully finished writing it and only chose to put it in the set because it sounded good when he and the band were practicing it.
And just when the audience might be convinced that these really were Songs Without Jemaine, Bret welcomed his Flight of the Conchords bandmate Jemaine Clement (dressed in full Dad-mode in Aotearoa pullover, baggy chinos and sneakers) on to the stage to huge cheers from the audience to give a rousing performance of ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room’.
The closing number was a pumping performance of a song called Rabbit Hole, in which Jemaine returned to the stage to play jazz flute and Bret managed to cajole comedian, actor, writer, director, musician and a whole lot more Madeline Sami on to the stage to sing backing vocals as well. It had the whole audience up and dancing in the rows of seats.
As an extra special treat we were all invited to take a copy of the self produced Flight Of The Conchords Live Album ‘Folk The World Tour’ released in 2002 that Bret said he had to get out of his garage to save his marriage, just for a koha to Wellington Free Ambulance.
For a tour named Songs Without Jokes, there were plenty of laughs had and in the relaxed atmosphere of Bret’s home town, it’s pretty safe to say that the audience left feeling they’d had a lot of fun.
Were you there at the Opera House for this brilliant home-town gig? Or have you seen Bret McKenzie performing 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. This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission at no cost to you.
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