Nadia Reid
8th April 2017
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Bridget Herlihy. Photography by Leah Victoria.
With the release of her debut self-funded debut album Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs in 2015, Port Chambers songstress Nadia Reid firmly established herself as one of New Zealand’s folk darlings, receiving high praise from fans and critics alike for her elegantly somber songs of life, love and loss. By the time Reid’s album was picked up for distribution in Australia by Spunk records, her follow-up album had largely been written, awaiting the right time to be released. Reid’s sophomore album, the aptly titled Preservation, was duly released at the end of March, and has immediately reiterated Reid’s status as an artist to keep a firm eye, and ear, on.
Saturday night’s sold-out show at Auckland’s Tuning Fork was the last night of a nine date album release tour of New Zealand, which, incidentally, has seen the Reid play every night bar one, for ten days, before heading across the ditch to play shows in Sydney, Newcastle and Melbourne.
Dunedin residents The Broken Heartbreakers set the scene for the evening with their distinctive shimmery guitars. Founding members Rachel Bailey (vocal, acoustic guitar) and John Guy Howell (electric guitar) quickly commanded the growing crowd’s attention; no mean feat for a duo, and yet the seemingly did it with ease, with Bailey’s stunning soaring vocals appeared to become more powerful with each song. Several songs into the set the duo became a trio, as Bailey and Howell were joined onstage by double-bass player Richard Pickard, suitably rounding out the ban’s alluring somber, yet uplifting, harmonious sound. With Howell letting loose with a captivating guitar solo, and at the peak of their performance, sadly it was over, leaving the growing crowd spellbound in their wake.
By the time the venue had reached capacity with 400 eager admirers, and with the scent of pinot noir and craft beer in the air, Reid quietly appeared on stage; so quietly in fact, that many member of the audience did not notice her appearance until she began to sing, and the crowd duly fell silent in awe. After the opening song, and without a word, Reid was joined onstage by two members of her band, and quickly launched into a seemingly flawless rendition of Preservation, the title track of her recently released second album. Reid has the all-too-rare gift of being a masterful storyteller; intricately weaving stories of love, loss and life through her lyrics, each tune stamped subtly with a hauntingly beautiful sadness and sense of melancholy.
Pausing to grab a nearby cup of tea, Reid greeted the audience, stating that she needed to do what she could to help her body get through the performance. Without elaborating further, and now with the full band joining her onstage, Reid continued on, with the audience’s admiration of Reid’s vocals and performance continuing to grow, with the applause becoming noticeable louder with every song, Reid announced that she could not go on as she had lost her voice. A trip to the emergency doctor two hours earlier, along with a dose of pseudoephedrine in an attempt to get her through the show had sadly not worked. And with that, the show was over, with Reid promising that she would work on getting the show rescheduled, which was met with a rowdy round of applause.
Despite having considered cancelling the show earlier in the day, Reid chose to go ahead, and although things didn’t quite go to plan, full credit to her for giving it her best shot. Despite a failing voice, Reid’s vocals and performance were quite frankly stunning, even if she was not at her optimum. Although only managing to get through three songs before pulling the proverbial plug, it was evident that Reid’s performance served as an appetizer of great things to come, whetting the audience’s appetite for the full rescheduled performance in the near future.
Reid is quite simply exquisite and her honesty and sincerity is evident.
*EDITOR’S NOTE – Nadia has rescheduled her performance for this Thursday, 13th April at The Tuning Fork. All tickets are valid from last night’s performance, and if you can’t make it for that night, refunds will be available from point of purchase.
Were you there at The Tuning Fork for this beautiful but short lived night of folk music magnificence? Or have you seen Nadia Reid somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!