MUSIC review

Marlon Williams Live at Auckland Town Hall

★★★★★

As anyone who has been to one of Marlon Williams’ Turangawaewae tour concerts I venture to suggest “religious experience” is a darn good way to describe the time he and the Yarra Benders performed. Yes, it was that good. Now, we are able to revisit that special time with the release of Live at Auckland Town Hall recorded last May 25.

Conjuring up appropriate adjectives to describe Marlon Williams’ voice, his stage-craft, his communication skills with his audience is no easy task. The problem is that even words like “sublime” just don’t convey how impacting his live performances are. This live release delivers 21 remarkable songs, by now familiar to his growing band of fans, but heard live brings an even more delicate edge to the delivery.

Let’s face it, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to recognise that Marlon Williams is a born romantic. That’s evident in songs like Come To Me, Can I Call You, Nobody Gets What They Want Any More, Make Way for Love, Love is a Terrible Thing, all of them zigzagging between angst and passion, broken up occasionally with deft up-tempo songs like Party Boy. Marlon Williams live with the magnificent Yarra Benders and the Auckland Symphony Orchestra might just be the best live record you hear in 2019. — Tony Nielsen