Ebony Lamb
5th November 2023
Paisley Stage, Napier, New Zealand.
Review by Rob Harbers, photography by Andrew Caldwell.
Promoting her long-awaited, eponymously-titled, first solo album, Ebony Lamb has made a first-ever appearance on the boards of Ahuriri’s most sublime bijou performance space, Paisley Stage. Outside the venue, there was the cacophony of sound and light that is “let’s blow up shit, cause fires and traumatise pets” night, inside it was pure class as one of the most distinctive voices in Aotearoa’s music scene shared the results of her marathon endeavour.
With a time scale mentioned by her as “the longest build-up in history” but, to be fair, nothing on the scale of “Chinese Democracy” or, closer to home, Space Waltz’s 2023 album that was being promised for nearly 20 years, the genesis of the album was a long process, not assisted by the ravages of the spicy cough. But, as they say, good things take time, and based on the material featured in this show, it’s been well worth the wait!
A characteristically accomplished opening set was provided by the ever-impressive JR, including a truly inspired cover of Bowie’s “Lazarus”, before Ebony and co took the stage in a fairly low-key manner. But while the entrance may have been relatively subdued, the audience were enraptured from the start, paying close attention to every note. As a number of the faces looked familiar from the Small Hall Sessions, they’re probably well trained by Jamie!
Those same sessions are where Ebony has most commonly made appearances in this area of late, and are the reason that a number of these songs have a degree of familiarity about them. But while some of them may have been heard before, the added musical dynamics, provided by Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa on drums and Phoebe Johnson on bass, and the physical ones of being in this space, still allow for much to be discovered. A prime example of this is “Give Me Some More”, dedicated on the night to the potential clusterfuck Coalition Of Chaos, and benefiting greatly from the extra punch.
The always-haunting “Midnight Is My Name” was a particular highlight, with its theme inspired by ruminations on the lives of others. While Ebony admitted to a small amount of fear over the risk that some might misconstrue her collaboration with Bic Runga and Kody Neilson as signalling a somewhat different direction from the one she’s pursuing, any such misconceptions would likely be put to bed by her breaking in to a guitar solo to close out one of the songs – a touch she admitted to be still finding her feet in. Sounded like it’s developing quite nicely though, from where I was sitting!
This appearance also differed from previous ones in the way of including none of the old songs from previous incarnations – all the original material being from the album. As such, this self-proclaimed “goth in a dress” exhausted the material reasonably quickly, but not before a beautiful rendition of “Drive Me Around”. The final original song, and closer of the main set, “Swim To Me” was preceded by an appeal for a ceasefire in Gaza – a worthy stand indeed, but one that may carry a risk in certain twisted spheres of opinion, such is the fucked-up state of discourse in these times. In the words of the sorely missed Sinead O’Connor, ‘these are dangerous days, to say what you feel is to dig your own grave’.
Speaking of the activist and artist herself, the encore consisted of an inspiring cover of the song that brought her to the world’s attention, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, one that was almost enough to bring a tear to the eye, so soulfully performed as it was!
And then, having evoked this beautiful soul in her own beautiful way, it was all over, until next time. But if you’re in Tamaki Makaurau or Paekakarariki, you still have a chance to catch the end of this tour – I strongly recommend that you do so!
Ebony Lamb:
JR:
Were you there at Paisley Stage for this beautiful folk gig? Or have you seen Ebony Lamb perform live sometime else? 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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