P.P. Arnold
20th May 2017
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Connor Crawford.
The long cold fingers of winter were tapping the backs of people’s shoulders last night as eager fans arrived early to wait, huddled against eachother in front of the doors of the Powerstation. Once inside however and the atmosphere was one of warmth, subtle changes such as small tables and chairs and a soft black cloth cloaking the usual cold steel of the stage barrier lifting the venue into more of a cocktail bar persona for this rather special night. Ms P.P. Arnold, making her first ever visit to New Zealand was somewhere in the building and while she could not be seen her presence could be felt emanating through the very walls themselves. Forget about the Royal Wedding – Auckland had a queen of their very own in the house tonight.
But before she could grace us with her presence; some home-grown royalty of our own.
You may or may not recognise the name of Sandy Mill, but what can be guaranteed is that you have more than likely heard her voice at some point in your life. Having been a ‘studio voice for hire’ for a number of years, Mill has performed with the likes of Gary Numan, Placebo and even Basement Jaxx; and of course a plethora of New Zealand artists including SJD. Hailing from Gisborne and of Ngati Porou Descent, Mill looked simply elegant as she took to the stage, the red accents on her leather ankle boots beautifully in sync with her top. Making the decision to transition from backing singer to front woman took a large top up of the old self-confidence meter; but how thankful we should be that she took that first step. Practising by writing a song a day for a month (amongst other things) Mill now has an album entitled Piece of Me under her belt and tonight the fans are treated to a selection of songs from it.
Moving from guitar to mic for the track ‘Light Of Day’, Mill easily commands the stage with her voice, her music ranging from soul to rock infused bassy blues. But while Mill certainly had the audience in the palm of her hand it was hard to ignore her phenomenal band that featured more than one familiar face! From ex Pluto singer Milan Borich on drums to Ben King and Jol Mulholland on guitar it was like a who’s who of some of New Zealand’s greatest musicians. It has to be said however that it was the talents of Dianne Swann of The Bads (the other half of The Bads, Brett Adams watching from the audience) on guitar and backing vocals that lifted the whole set to a higher plain, both Mill and Swann’s vocals complimenting each other perfectly. This was never more evident than on Mill’s cover of the Eurythmics track ‘Love is a Stranger’, their voices reaching the upper most echelons of harmonious brilliance. Finishing with ‘Charade’ a rather pink Floyd-esque track that showed Mill’s softer and more emotional side and it is safe to say that Sandy Mill positively shined tonight.
Supported by Tim Rogers, Rusty Hopkinson and Andy Kent of the Australian band You Am I and featuring the keyboard talents of Mr James Black there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that tonight’s performance by P.P. Arnold would be a life changing experience. Dressed in a very dapper paisley suit Tim Rogers stepped up to the microphone and announced the arrival of the regal Ms P.P. Arnold with the banter of a Las Vegas showman, the fans roaring in delight. As the 71 year old Ms Arnold stepped out from behind the curtain the roar intensified, a few sharp intakes of breath heard from those in the front rows as they gazed upon her magnificence, Arnold sparkling in her electric blue sequinned dress. With a smile that could stop traffic, Ms Arnold stepped forward and thanked the Auckland crowd announcing that she would be kicking the show off with the first song that she ever sang as part of The Ikettes ‘What You Gonna Do’ taking the audience and the very venue itself by the shoulders and shaking them down.
With killer keys from Black, Arnold’s voice filled the room with soul infused lusciousness, behind it another female voice punching through and giving it added character; Tongan backing vocalist Talei Wolfgramm (of the Melbourne based The Wolfgramm Sisters) in a league all of her own. Fans grinned from ear to ear as Arnold finished on a high and smiled informing the fans that she was going to “keep things moving”, dedicating her next song to “simply the best female entertainer in the whole wide world, Tina Turner”; ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ an easy favourite with the fans. Born in the Watts Ghetto of Los Angeles in 1946 to a family of gospel singers, Patricia Ann Cole – later to become Ms P.P. Arnold – got her first taste of performing solo at the tender age of four. But life soon took over, married with two children and working two jobs by the time she was seventeen, Arnold could have easily have missed her calling. But thanks to an audition that saw her land a job as an Ikette and a proposition just two years later from Mick Jagger to break out on her own as a solo singer (which saw her sign with record label Immediate) and Ms Arnold was on her way. Since then she has worked with many of the greats, Roger Waters, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and of course her dear friend Steve Marriott of Small Faces and Humble Pie who she tragically lost to a house Fire in 1991. Tonight’s show consisted of many of those famous tracks that Ms Arnold has performed over the years; songs such as ‘Angel Of The Morning’ written by Chip Taylor eliciting a sway from the audience as they held their breath in wonderment, Arnold masterfully building the song to a crescendo.
Throughout the evening Arnold would deliver small anecdotes, snippets of a moment in time if you will of how she came to have a certain track written for her, or who she had worked with; her tales sure to fill pages and pages of what would inevitably be a most fascinating memoir. With a touch of naughtiness to her humour and a delightfully infectious laugh, Arnold captivated the intimate audience while taking them on a journey down memory lane with such songs as ‘God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys and ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’ by Cat Stevens, couples throughout the audience obviously feeling the love as they wound their arms around eachother, while those in the front rows swayed, hands outstretched singing the words back to her. It has to be said that the evening itself was almost flawless, only a few small technical hitches that occasionally saw a stage tech have to scuttle out to adjust a wire or two disrupting the flow. And while there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Ms Arnold absolutely and unequivocally brought the goods tonight, one can’t quite shake off her rendition of ‘The Turning Tide’ which just didn’t quite seem to come together this evening.
Following a stupendous version of ‘Give A Hand, Take A Hand’ that saw Wolfgramm completely take flight before thanking Ms Arnold for teaching her everything she knew, Arnold brought those soulful blues home to Auckland as she completed her set with ‘Bury Me Down by the River’ written by the wonderful Gibb brothers Barry and Maurice. Despite the fact that it was already well past eleven o’clock on a Sunday night the crowd begged for an encore, Ms Arnold once again taking the stage to deliver both the Rolling Stones Classic ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ and of course ‘Tin Soldier’ by Steve Marriott himself. A strong, determined and immensely talented woman who refused to back down to the “boys club” of the recording industry stood before us tonight and frankly for those awe-inspiring ninety minutes nothing else mattered.
Yes tonight Auckland was graced with royalty.
P.P. Arnold:
Sandy Mill:
Were you there at the Powerstation for this magnificent Soul Blues gig? Or have you seen P.P. Arnold perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
P.P. Arnold Setlist:
- What You Gonna Do
- River Deep, Mountain High
- Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
- Speak To Me
- Angel Of The Morning
- To Love Somebody
- God Only Knows
- Different drum
- Am I Still Dreaming
- (If You Think You’re) Groovy
- Understanding
- The First Cut Is The Deepest
- The Turning Tide
- Born
- Give A Hand, Take A Hand
- Medicated Goo
- Bury Me Down By The River
- You Can’t Always Get What You Want [encore]
- Tin Soldier [encore]