Vance Joy
29th September 2018
The Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Lauren Sanderson. Photography by Richard Myburgh.
We first saw Australian singer song-writer Vance Joy when he played an intimate gig at Auckland’s Tuning Fork in March this year. The indie-pop singer returned with a bang last night as he and his band took over Auckland Town Hall for their first headline show in New Zealand.
Celebrating the release of his second album Nation of Two, he played a variety of songs from both this and his first album, with a few cheeky covers thrown into the mix. Vance wasn’t as prompt to enter the stage as he was in his earlier gig, as he kept the crowd waiting in anticipation, but as soon as he stepped onto the stage and the sweet melodies of ‘Call if you need me’ echoed through the room, all was forgiven.
Well-known favourite ‘Mess is Mine’ from his first album Dream your life away and new track ‘Like Gold’ from his second album Nation of Two, were up next. I remember the stripped back version of these songs in his intimate performance at the Tuning Fork, and although they were beautifully performed, it was great to be able to see the tracks come to life and reach their full-potential with the backing of the band.
Vance is not only a talented artist, but he likes to share stories about his inspirations for his songs. His next song was ‘Take your Time’, which he created whilst in Malibu and is about a couple who ignore their phones and dance in the kitchen together’ – it was light and refreshing and certainly made you feel like dancing along to the catchy riff.
A crowd favourite was certainly ‘Fire and the Flood’, it is hard to believe that this song is about love, breakups and heartache as the upbeat track had us beaming from ear to ear, whilst chanting the lyrics back to the Vance. It was great to hear other key components to the song like the percussion instruments and see how they complimented the tones of Vance’s stunning vocals. Again, the 30-year-old brought humour to the stage as he played examples of his voice notes, while trying to find the perfect melody for this track.
A change of guitar was needed for the next couple of songs, and he welcomed the ukulele to the stage to play ‘Little Boy’, but before he played in true Vance Joy style, he decided to share a story with us about the influence behind the track. He started to tell us about the time he broke his tooth falling off his bike and the dentist replaced it with an adult sized cap and now he has been left with one permanent big tooth. Yes, this was humorous, but it wasn’t received in the same way as the intimate gig, as one guy behind me kindly shouted ‘stop rambling’. The crowd especially in the standing area didn’t quite appreciate Vance’s stories as occasionally they were quite long winded, which led for the crowd to become restless.
Never the less, there were certainly no complaints about his music, as soon as next track ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ started to play, all eyes and ears were back on Vance and the band. ‘Riptide’ was also another crowd pleaser as it reminded us as to why we well in love with the Aussie musician. At times he didn’t even need to sing as the crowd had it covered, as the lyrics suggest “you’re going to sing the words wrong” – this wasn’t the case as the committed fans chanted every lyric word for word.
Their mashup of Lionel Richie’s All Night Long and Justin Bieber’s Sorry came as a lovely surprise. It shows the variety that Vance and his band can cover and brought an element of fun to the night. ‘Lay it on me’ had the crowd stomping and clapping in harmony whilst ‘Saturday Sun’ brought the night to an end and boy was it a night to remember.
The venue was perfect as the acoustics amplified Vance’s already stunning vocals, the band added an extra element to the night, whilst the crowd’s screams and chants were enough evidence of a night well spent.
Thanks Vance, until next time!
Were you there at The Town Hall for this magnificent singer songwriter? Or have you seen Vance Joy perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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