The Teskey Brothers
6th October 2018
The Mercury Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by John Kidd. Photography by Maisy McLeod-Riera.
I have a confession to make. When it comes to venues I am a sucker for aesthetics, especially those which reflect that charming opulence of the past. So, I was thrilled to learn that The Teskey Brothers – a band that I had heard no end of good things about as a live act – would be playing in Mercury Theatre, an absolute hidden gem of a venue just off of the infamous K’rd. Built in 1910 as a ‘picture and performing arts theatre’ the venue is steeped in history and according to drummer Wayne Bell of opening act The Bads, the theatre may even have a few extra audience members of the spectral kind.
I have always been a big fan of The Bads, the combination of the supreme talents of Brett Adams and Dianne Swann something quite profound. Appearing as a four piece tonight, they took the audience through a short but wonderfully formed set that began with ‘Fly Together’ from their album ‘Travel Light’. Following a comical moment where Swann requested the audience to make some earthly noises to prove that they were real and not one of the aforementioned spectral members of the theatre, the quartet hit the audience with ‘Good Lies’ the faster tempo getting my toes tapping as I watched on in awe of yet another perfect solo from Adams. Swann’s voice was – as always – on form, unblemished it binds so well with Adams and can convert from upbeat to movingly slow easily as proved by their final track ‘HeartBreak Beach’.
Time for the main act and I had a grin that I just couldn’t shake, having been a fan of The Teskey Brothers for awhile now yet unfortunately missing their previous visits here. Well all I can say is that my face officially hurts today because that grin never left my dial for a moment, in fact it just continued to grow wider as the set played out.
For those unfamiliar with this Australian quartet who have taken the world by storm; in 2017 The Teskey Brothers released their debut album Half Mile Harvest; recorded in their own home studio, self-produced and independently released they stormed the charts and to many were like a bolt out of the blue – despite the fact that they had been gigging around their local circuit for a number of years. Comprising of brothers Josh and Sam Teskey along with Brendon Love on bass and Liam Gough on drums, The Teskey Brothers deliver lightning in a bottle, their music capturing the essence of the greats such as Redding and King. I must remind myself that lead vocalist Josh is indeed from Australia because he sure as hell don’t sound like it with a voice that is as smooth as Tennessee whiskey complete with that fiery kick at the end.
Opening with ‘Crying Shame’ and I’m hooked, the richness of their sound flowing through my veins as they move through a set that is filled with mouth-watering guitar solos, damn fine harmonica playing and even a two-piece brass section. All four members of the band write, Josh pointing this fact out throughout the night as he introduces each track and who wrote it, his collaboration with Brendon Love for ‘I Get Up’ a definitive highlight. ‘Honeymoon’ is an epically long almost thirteen-minute journey, and one I would more than happily traverse again, but it was what followed that really blew the audience away.
While certainly a band that embodies a 60’s blues feel, The Teskey Brothers aren’t averse to a little rock n roll either and with their self-challenge of learning a new cover each tour they decided to take it up a notch and cover a real rock n roll charged track. As the brass section emulated air raid sirens that familiar riff echoed around the room, me and every single other audience member rejoicing as Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ stomped forth larger than life, Josh Teskey’s vocals giving it a different flavour but without losing that magic of the original. Nicely done boys.
The audience had their chance to be part of the music as we got our synchronised clap on for ‘Loiusa’, Gough throwing an impressive drum solo into the mix, before the encore of the evening delivered as Josh stated ‘a cover of their own song’ – this particular live version of ‘Forever You and Me’ having a faster tempo and I must admit even more appeal than the recorded copy. The Teskey Brothers are pure gold, their debut album a gemstone of priceless quality, their live performances mandatory viewing.
If you know what’s good for your soul you will heed my advice – The Teskey Brothers are a class act, see them as soon as you can!
Were you there at the Mercury Theatre for this beautiful acoustic blues show? Or have you seen The Teskey Brothers perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
The Teskey Brothers Setlist:
- Crying Shame
- Say You’ll Do
- I Love A Woman [Tampa Red cover]
- I Get Up
- Reason Why
- Pain & Misery
- Honeymoon
- War Pigs [Black Sabbath cover]
- Louisa
- Right For Me
- Forever You And Me [encore]
- Untitled (New Track) [encore]
The Bads Setlist:
- Fly Together
- Losing Heroes
- Good Lies
- Him & Her
- West
- HeartBreak Beach
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Brilliant show – great live act and venue.