Don McGlashan
16th September 2023
Paisley Stage, Napier, New Zealand.
Review by Rob Harbers, photography by Andrew Caldwell.
Don McGlashan is currently in the throes of his “Take it to the Bridge” tour, and on the night it touched down in Napier, there was magic in the air indeed. With the bedrock-solid foundation of a long career, this performance spanned the years, with an over-arching theme of maintaining connections across the barriers that might otherwise divide us. Very apt indeed for this area that in recent times literally lost some bridges!
The role of magician’s assistant in this escapade is filled by Anita Clark. In her solo persona of Motte, she provided an all-too-brief support set that was both beguiling and intriguing in its complexity. Over pre-recorded backing tracks, she looped and layered exquisite violin playing, which it’s fair to say seemed to surprise much of the audience. Every piece different in its sonic attack, this belied whatever expectations one might have had from a description of it – I’m not going to risk any spoilers by telling you too much about it – it’s truly something you need to encounter for yourself. Which, if the audience reaction is to be any predictor of, there should be many more opportunities beyond this tour. But at the same time, don’t wait on things – you want to see talent like this before everyone else discovers it, after all!
The main attraction bounded on to the stage with a visible enthusiasm, demonstrative of a desire to play us these songs from the heart, in a novel instrumental setting. Just short of a year ago I was among those privileged to see Don’s Hawkes Bay Arts Festival set, and I wrote then of the evident humanity in his lyrics. This stripped-back setting allowed these to shine through even more, the relaxed setting allowing the time to give introduction and exposition to the content and inspiration of much of the material. Making use of the loop pedal, the base of “Harbour Bridge” was laid down on guitar and euphonium, then overlaid with more guitar and the vocal element, assisted by Anita’s violin and vocals. A worthy (and aptly titled) introduction to proceedings.
Describing the set as being a “random mix of old and new songs” this was amply demonstrated by the second track taking it back over 40 years, in the form of “Marsha”, given new life by a re-jigged arrangement. After the brief cameo by a haunted effects pedal in the intro to “Charles Kingsford Smith”, the instrumental pool was augmented by Anita’s mandolin on “Nothing on the windows”, with its depiction of slow and sad decline. A spontaneous poll of the audience as to whether this song is optimistic or pessimistic came out about even. (Quite surely a more trustworthy poll than many others currently dominating headlines, with their transparent attempts to lull the population in to accepting an inevitable decline in to a warped Christo-fascism that can neither make the numbers add up nor stand up to any scrutiny!)
In introducing a bilingual rendition of “Bathe In the River”, Don described the enjoyment he derived from seeing the song translated in to Te Reo, and the translation process producing hidden layers of meaning – sounding better than the way he wrote it! The beauty and vitality of language, demonstrated in powerful form.
The theme of bridges was given further explanation and substance by Don’s expressed desire for the maintenance of connections, in a time which seeks to divide us along political and other lines, and given resonance by the metaphor of bringing the love to this embattled area, which still has much more to aspire to in the long recovery process. A gift gratefully received, certainly!
The joy of such a sparse musical crew is in the degree of spontaneity it allows, demonstrated no more amply than in the interruption and restart of “The Heater”, for the sake of cuing up the few seconds of audience participation, and in the playing of “No Depression” at a moment’s notice. Both of these, in their own way, indicative of the sheer joy evident in the playing – this is a pairing who are living the music!
“Pulled Along By Love” provided opportunity for more audience participation, before the encore of the anthemic “Anchor Me” brought the curtain down on a magical performance, one that breathed new life in to the lengthy repertoire, and demonstrated a vitality and enthusiasm that is truly inspiring in an artist in his fifth decade of producing music.
There are still a number of dates left on this tour – if you can, they’re definitely well worth checking out, as an artist who indisputably deserves the over-used tag of being iconic brings fresh light to the songs you’re already familiar with!
Were you there at Paisley Stage for this brilliant gig performed by Kiwi pop royalty? Or have you seen Don McGlashan perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Harbour Bridge
- Marsha
- Charles Kingsford Smith
- Nothing on the Windows
- Miracle Sun
- Bathe in the River
- Dominion Road
- Andy
- White Valiant
- Envy of Angels
- Go back In
- Shackleton
- Tomorrow Night
- The Heater
- There is no Depression in New Zealand
- Pulled along by Love
- Anchor Me [encore]
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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