Bret McKenzie closed out his Freak Out City New Zealand Tour at Auckland’s Hollywood Avondale bringing two hours of music and mirth to the historic venue.
McKenzie, is, of course, one half of New Zealand’s most successful comedy export, Flight Of The Conchords, but lately he has turned his attention to “serious” songwriting, releasing two solo albums, Songs Without Jokes (2022) and last year’s Freak Out City…making music that lands him among likes of Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman…other “serious” songwriters with a streak of comedy running through their work.
Saturday night’s show…sandwiched between Good Friday and Easter Sunday…started just after 8pm, with no opening act. The night belonged to Bret and his 8-piece band, one he calls, The State Highway Wonders.
With a two-piece horn section and two backing vocalist, the band is versatile enough to handle anything McKenzie throws at them. This becomes clear during segments during the show when McKenzie writes a song on the spot based on a story someone in the audience shouts out or when he invites someone on stage to read along to a script.
Apart from the band, the best thing about a Bret McKenzie concert is Bret’s easy manner with the audience.
He loves to tell a good story and his songs and his singing are more than novelty…he once was a member of The Black Seeds after all.
So we get a show that is as much muse concert as comedy act…and finding a balance between the two is McKenzie’s biggest talent.
For the most part, he succeeds, slipping effortlessly from a story about “Thelma The Unicorn” or being scammed on the streets of Rome to endearing tunes such as The Only Dream I Know and Dave’s Place.
It’s to his credit that, when, for the encore, the audience is offered a choice of a classic John Prine song or McKenzie’s own Tomorrow Night, they overwhelmingly choose the latter.
There were a few moments when I could have done with less schtick and more song…the Made Up Song and the volunteer actor bits tended to go on a bit long…but the momentum and energy picked up and by the time we got to The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room) and Man Or Muppet, the place was buzzing…with Chris O’Connor…drummer for The Phoenix Foundation…adding some zing with his spoons.
So kudos to The State Highway Wonders for the versatility and kudos to Bret McKenzie for taking chances and doing something a little different.
Marty Duda
Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Chris Zwaagdyk
Bret McKenzie setlist:
- Freak Out City
- Too Young
- One By One
- Dave’s Place/If You Wanna Go
- What The Fuck Just Happened
- The Only Dream I Know
- All The Time
- We’re In Love
- Bethnal Green Blues
- All I Need
- Made Up Song
- The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)
- Everyone Is Horrid
- Life’s A Happy Song
- Man Or Muppet
- Tomorrow Night
- A Little Time
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