Tami Neilson, Auckland NZ, 2018

Tami Neilson

4th August 2018
Auckland Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Alexis Brook. Photography by Doug Peters.

The atmosphere in the town hall was positively electric last night as Aucklanders arrived on mass to witness the one and only Queen of Sass, Tami Neilson.

Opening the show were Auckland’s The Miltones, fronted by Milly Tabak. Whilst The Miltones themselves are wearing the typical blues rock attire of denim jeans and open shirts, Tabak shone like a beacon of light as she adorned a bright red kimono-styled dress. Kicking off their set with ‘Bye Bye Baby’ Tabak exclaimed joyously “I can’t believe we’re in the Town Hall tonight!”.

Fans were soon treated to some new material in the form of ‘Who Do You’ before being introduced to a song about Tabak’s father who passed away suddenly 6 years ago; ‘Carlos’ telling a story of happy memories with a lingering what if? Tabak speaking afterwards of how proud she thinks her dad would have been to see her there tonight.

Changing the pace, the band rips into ‘Glory’, another absolute toe-tapper from their self-titled debut album.  Another shot of new material came in the form of ‘Even If’ a highly danceable number that had many in the crowd itching to jump out of their seats and give it all they had. Closing their set, The Miltones delivered their latest single ‘Disappear’ whose stunning music video was filmed just down the road at Auckland’s Civic Theatre.

Consistently moving from strength to strength expect to see a lot more of The Miltones!

As the clock chimed nine the crowd erupted with whoops and cheers as Tami Neilson entered the stage in a blue fringed flapper-styled dress and opened the show with ‘Miss Jones’, her homage to the enigmatic Sharon Jones. Belting out “Oh how I love you, Miss Jones”, the audience were encouraged to chant along with Neilson, each and every one becoming enraptured with her stage presence.  Leading into ‘Devil in a Dress’, another track from her latest album, ‘SASSAFRASS!”, Neilson’s voice soars across the sold out Town Hall and it is immediately evident that she is no damsel in distress.

“Auckland Town Hall! Oh my God!” exclaimed Neilson, as she cast her eyes around the room and excitedly commented that “even Adele would remember the time she cracked 1000 tickets” before she brought the audience back down to earth with a little nostalgia in the form of her 2015 APRA Silver Scroll Award winning ‘Walk (Back to your Arms)’, from her 2014 Album ‘Dynamite!’.

The mood took a slightly more sombre tone as Neilson spoke of the loss of her Dad; the album, ‘Don’t Be Afraid’ being her time of grief and remembrance; her father’s music obviously something that she still holds close to her heart.

Nothing communicated this more clearly than Neilson’s story of how the track ‘One Thought of You’ wasn’t originally planned for the album, ‘SASSAFRASS!’, but as she was packing for the recording studio, the melody came to mind as being a song she had worked with her father on twenty years ago; to Neilson it was as if he was whispering to her, reminding her that she promised to keep his music alive.  The audience sat focussed on each and every word, enveloped within a blanket of emotion, that connected them with both Neilson and her family.

But last night was all about the sass and Neilson certainly brought it. ‘Bananas’; Neilson’s tongue in cheek retort to a comment she read that stated to have a successful country radio station, you needed to stop playing female artists, ‘men being the lettuce in a salad, and women the tomato’. Boo’s and Hisses arose from the audience, Neilson throwing out a chuckle before commenting that she actually loves a tomato salad. By now, some audience members have crept to the sides of the room and have started to jiggle and jive along with Neilson.

‘Diamond Ring’ based on a conversation between Neilson and her mother and the topic of finding love again is assertive and self-assured; Neilson’s relationship with her mother making it obvious to all where Neilson herself gets her confidence from.

Family is a key component to the roots of Neilson’s music; a fact that was beautifully illustrated as she announced that she wanted to introduce a special guest in the audience. Gasps and murmurs soon turned to sweet sighs as Neilson revealed that her eldest son Charlie was about to fall asleep; Neilson leading him into the world of slumber with the song ‘Texas’ that she wrote for him as a baby.

‘Stay Outta My Business’ Neilson’s ode to turning forty and no longer caring what other people thought once again brought that head-turning attitude, it’s conclusion seeing her shimmy off the stage as only Neilson could to allow her band featuring Brett Adams on Guitar, Joe McCallum on Drums, Neil Watson on Steel Guitar, Mike Hall on Bass and Hopetoun Brown’s Tim Stewart and Nick Atkinson on brass to serenade the audience with some instrumental work.

But the queen soon returned in a fabulous sassafrass pink dress before belting out her own version of ‘This Is A Man’s World’ that included some custom lyrics about a certain lady who is running a country while holding a baby girl in her arms; the audience whooping at their inclusion.

A few more dips into past musical history came in the form of ‘Holy Moses’ and ‘Cry Over You’ before bassist Mike Hall joined Neilson for ‘Woo Hoo’ a fast-paced, close harmony ditty. Neilson following it up with ‘Smoking Gun’ which was her personal warning to all the Harvey Weinsteins out there.

Closing the evening with the gift of a brand new track, Neilson sang ‘You Were Mine’ a song reflecting on what life was like, before and after someone was a part of it.  Powerful, emotive, feisty.  Tami.

But Neilson wasn’t done just quite yet; a hotly demanded encore seeing her return to stage in a bright yellow dress with flames licking up the sides, her rendition of ‘Big Boss Mama’ completely knocking it out of the park.

And with that, the Queen of Sass, her crown firmly in place bid all a goodnight.

Were you there at the Town Hall for this brilliant Country Soul gig? Or have you seen Tami Neilson perform live some other time? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Tami Neilson Setlist:

1. Miss Jones
2. Devil In A Dress
3. Walk (Back To Your Arms)
4. One Thought Of You
5. Bananas
6. Diamond Ring
7. A Woman’s Pain
8. Kitty Cat
9. Texas
10. Good Man
11. Stay Outta My Business
12. A Man’s World
13. Holy Moses
14. Cry Over You
15. Lonely
16. Woo Hoo
17. Smoking Gun
18. Manitoba Sunrise in Another Motel 6
19. Before & After
20. Big Boss Mama [encore]

The Miltones Setlist:

1. Bye Bye Baby
2. Why Do You
3. Carlos
4. Glory
5. Even If
6. Wildfire
7. Disappear

_{^{UPDATED: 06/08/18 – Changed review to reflect ‘Miss Jones’ to be about Sharon Jones and not Grace Jones as was originally stated.}}

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