Sun Kil Moon, Auckland New Zealand, 2017

Sun Kil Moon

28th May 2017
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand.

Tonight is the first time that Sun Kil Moon has ever graced New Zealand shores, so unsurprisingly the highly anticipated show has been sold out for well over a couple of months. Feeding into many of the themes and messages that the artist refers to, large signs on the doors and walls advise patrons that all cell phones must be turned off. This message is also reiterated by security upon entering the venue, not a common occurrence at The Tuning Fork.

Mark Kozelek, the kingpin of the act Sun Kil Moon was last on New Zealand shores in 2008 (in a solo capacity), yet as the house lights dimmed and he stepped up onto the stage it appeared that he had forgotten our fair city already as he announced to the audience that it was “Nice to be back in Australia”. As everyone laughed, Kozelek carried on the joke with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, speaking of all the wonderful people from Australia that he knew of “Nicole Kidman, Noah Taylor” etc. He then introduces his first song of the night which he advises is normally called ‘Bombs’ but tonight is going to be referred to as ‘David Tua Plays The Ukulele’ (he promises that it is utter genius).

And so he begins, traversing the multiple verses that make up the ever changing first song of the night; that which speaks of everything from flagging tickets sales due to oversaturating his European market through to his hatred of there being too many bikes in Holland. Kozelek at one point stating that he will skip the next few verses and “this is where the genius comes in” working in a verse all about coming to Auckland and the fact that Tua could have been a better fighter if only he had spent less time playing the ukulele. The song ended with Kozelek conducting a sing a long of the kiwi inspired lyrics with the audience.

A huge round of applause and laughter signaled the beginning of what was to be a glorious night of songs, banter, light hearted berating of audience members and stories of housecats who don’t give a fuck about Trump.

Mark Kozelek first formed Sun Kil Moon in 2002 after his first band Red House Painters became defunct. Named after the boxer Sung-Kil Moon (Kozelek has quite the fascination with boxing and the backgrounds that many of the fighters have to overcome to get to where they are) the group have released several albums including their latest released in February of this year Common as Light and Love are Red Valleys of Blood. If you have never seen (or for that matter heard of) Sun Kil Moon, think of taking pieces of Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and Henry Rollins and then tossing them into a blender. The songs are more akin to instrumental compositions over which Kozelek either rants or raves while stuttering out repetitive words for emphasis or in complete contrast he beautifully recounts memories of tender experiences. But one thing is for sure he never lets you forget who he himself is; that being a man who is now fifty, whose body has become a little podgy (but he still tries to keep up those 40 push-ups a day) and who has no issue with “whackin off my bone, in a hotel room alone”.

Sun Kil Moon is a polarizing band, with many either in the camp which believes Kozeleks words are intensely insightful and beautifully poetic taking you on a journey through the many portions of his life, or exasperatingly pompous and shouty as he babbles on about the drivel that irritates him on a daily basis.

In a slight deviation to the normal programming, second song of the night is a cover dedicated to Gregg Allman, Kozelek learning of his passing as he sat in his hotel room here in Auckland. His rendition of ‘Sweet Melissa’ is poignant and honest, his genuine sadness at the passing of such a great artist palpable. Before moving into his next track, Kozelek admonishes a fan in the front row for coughing “I’m on tour right now! I can’t have what you have, I’m the singer! If I get sick these guys [gesturing to the band behind him] won’t get paid and won’t be able to feed their families!” Kozelek is smiling but there is a slight underlying current of annoyance and you get the feeling that he really would like this person to take around 20 steps back and disappear into the crowd.

The set tonight consists of several tracks off the new album (not ‘Philadelphia Cop’ however much to the disappointment of a particular female fan who continues to request it throughout the night) as well as a mix from some of their earlier albums and Kozeleks solo EP’s. Each song seeing Kozelek leaning over his lyric sheets balanced precariously on a music stand, every so often resorting to scooping them up and reading them as he paces in small circles at the front of the stage. Kozelek is the eternal conductor, his left hand gesturing towards the pages as if commanding the words to come forward and volunteer to be spoken from his lips. Often he turns and instructs drummer Scott McPherson on the tempo he should be sitting at, or points out how long time member and good friend Chris Connolly on keyboards is going to blow our minds.

Just over halfway through the set Kozelek invites New Zealand’s own Neil Finn up on stage to sing with him, regaling us all with the story of how they first met 20 years ago. Finn’s guitar playing on ‘Beautiful You’ is superb and the crowd happily joins in singing the chorus at Kozeleks insistence. But it is the sincerity with which they both sing ‘Mothers Love’ that is truly moving, Kozelek at one point pulling Finn close to him, their heads pressed against each other as they sing into a single shared microphone.

While the set definitely mellowed a little in the middle section, that feeling was blown away with the dark stalking’s of songs such as ‘Window Sash Weights’ and ‘Richard Ramirez’ and a new piece which for the purpose of the review we will call ‘Housecat’ due to the fact that Kozelek refused to tell the audience its name “I’m not going to tell you the name just so you can put it up on YouTube and claim to be the first!”. This brilliant new song about a fuzzy old cat that doesn’t care about Trump only his cat chow became the closing song of the set, a choice that Kozelek made at the last minute instead of “the sadness” of ‘Exodus’.

Returning for an encore after “standing around over there at the back of the stage” Kozelek gave the audience a choice of four songs from which they could choose; receiving little or no response to any of the titles read out, Kozelek threw his hands in the air “Fuck you guys, how embarrassing, I’ll pick the one I want then!” and announced (with a sideways smile, letting the audience know that they had already been forgiven) that he would be singing ‘Hello Chicago’ after which he would end with reading a fans letter he received last year.

And after two and a half hours, it was over, echoes of serial killers and diary entries still reverberating around the room as the audience slowly made their way out into the cold winter air.

Were you there at The Tuning Fork for this special intimate gig? Or have you seen Sun Kil Moon live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!