Refreshing performance from Kiwi powerhouse
DANCERS, young and notsoyoung, from a full house stood at their seats and poured into the aisles in response to Gin Wigmore’s irrepressibly rocking energy at the Regent Theatre on Friday evening.
The act was refreshingly stripped of theatricality — no costumes, no makeup artistry, no fancy hairdos, no excessively exposed skin.
Armed instead with her musical craft, a powerful, distinctive and nasal voice, excellent sense of musical phrasing and an infectiously mischievous sense of humour, Wigmore and band occu pied the stage lit minimally with the now de rigeur dry ice atmosphere.
Wigmore and her band, who remain almost criminally uncredited, received instantly riotous applause for a selection of her favourite hits.
Girl Gang took command of the stage and set the scene.
Other highlights included the furious Man Like That , the gleefully vengeful Hey Ho! , the deceptive tinkling keyboard rapidly overpowered by grunge rock in Nothing to No One ; Written in the Water and Devil in Me sounding like Amy Winehouse; the comparatively minimalistic new works Hard Luck and New Rush and the iconic Black Sheep.
The show ended with the soaring I Will Love You which, delivered with her rasping voice, has to be one of the most affecting odes to undying love.
Wigmore does indeed have the power.
After a mere five years away, she is pleased to remain a Kiwi girl reacquainting herself with gumdrops and local beaches.
Support musician, guitarist Josh Durgen, deserves a more respective reception than he got. The audience continued to talk over the top of his excellent guitar work.
Using a classical technique, his interpretative repertoire ranges from the Andrew Sisters, Beatles, Gershwin, Scott Joplin, a Nashville fiddle tune to a tribute to his mentor, Peter Posa.