Hera
3rd August 2022
Ashley Clinton Hall, Makeretu, New Zealand.
Review by Rob Harbers, photography by Andrew Caldwell.
Coming from the land of the ice and snow (via Otautahi), with not a Sugarcube or a puffin to be seen, nor speaking a word of Hopelandic, Hera is the latest star to grace the stages of Hawkes Bay’s Small Halls. This graceful angel charmed her way in to the hearts of a whole new audience tonight, and will continue to do so over the remaining nights of this run.
Like all the great characters of myth and legend, there is a backstory to the Small Hall Sessions, and to their curator, Jamie Macphail. We only have a limited number of words for this piece, though, so the historical reach required to canvass Jamie’s story must be held in abeyance for now. Far shorter is the tale of the origins of the Sessions themselves, which grew out of the Sitting Room Sessions. These were (generally) very bijou affairs, held in a succession of venues, many of which were, as stated on the tin, literally the sitting rooms of the buildings and homes in which they took place. At their most pure, these were far less of the nature of shows or performances as such, and much more akin to a gathering of friends, one or more of whom would be sharing their musical talent with the rest of those present. Imagine the sort of party where someone’s cousin can really sing and play, perhaps with their band, perhaps without. Now imagine that the cousin is Delaney Davidson. Or Tami Neilson. Or Finn Scholes, or Finn Andrews for that matter. Or Julia Deans, Anna Coddington, Marlon Williams etc – you get the drift! And they’re there, in the midst of 20 or 30 of you, baring their soul for all. That was the spirit and the ethos of a Sitting Room Session, and this expression of its sibling experience revived that same spirit. The utterly guileless Hera invited us all into her metaphorical sitting room, and proceeded to bare her creative soul to the suitably intimate cloud of witnesses. Many among the audience were already with friends or family, but for two hours it was as if all were friends, gathered together to enjoy the creative outpouring of one of their number.
As Jamie described in introducing Hera to the gathering, there is no artifice about her – what you see is what you get. An open and utterly genuine being, unafraid to break off an as-yet unrecorded song partway through to test the alternative version, having not decided yet which version she likes best (The second one was the winner for me, by the way)! Her mostly original set traversed emotional territory, a common thread being one of letting go, being in the moment and laying off encumbrances – quite apt given the way in which, during her time sharing with us, all that was outside was forgotten. The spirit of openness was encapsulated in the way her shoes were kicked off as soon as she was behind the microphone – the better to give her toes the space they needed to dance along with the music, particularly during the Cuban/Icelandic fusion number that you never knew you needed to hear (until you heard it, that is)! And as for the charm and joy – even the song about death was a happy one! None of the dark and sombre Scandi clichés here…
But in any case, I’ve wittered away for far too long now, in what is the first of a pair of writings about Icelandic musicians for this week (watch this space!). Subsequent to this series Hera will be taking a break from the touring life. Here’s hoping this situation doesn’t need to continue for too long, because this is an artist who was born to share her craft with audiences far and near, big and small (although the small ones are always going to be better!). Her raw and emotive delivery is one to be savoured (and the sparrow lingo is worth the price of admission alone!), so catch it while you can – honestly, you’ll thank me for it!
Were you there at the Ashley Clinton Hall for this intimate gig? Or have you seen Hera perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Set List:
- Awake for Hours
- Do it
- Here we Are
- Sunglasses Song
- Radio Silence
- Both Sides Now
- Við Gengum Tvö
- Hard Core
- Simple
- Slide On By
- Raking Leaves
- Pulling The Anchor
- Burn to Feel
- Yours
- It’s a Funeral Thing
- Borgarbarn
- How Does a Lie Taste
- Visur Vatnsenda-Rósu
- Dagný
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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